Men's football news
Written by: Joe
Lewes assistant manager Joe Vines expects the wins to come thick and fast once the team has found its composure in front of goal.
The Rooks drew 0-0 with Hastings on Monday to extend their unbeaten start to the season to five games.
However, dropped points over the bank holiday weekend with the 1-1 draw at Corinthian-Casuals, and the same result at Wingate & Finchley at the start of the season, means the Rooks are three points off the top.
But Vines is confident the team can start delivering up top.
“It was another great clean sheet and we don’t look like we’re going to concede a lot of goals, which means you only need to score one or two,” says Vines, reflecting on the Hastings draw.
“So if we can just flick that switch and start to finish one or two chances, we should win football matches.”
‘Stuck trying to do the same thing’
Chances for Deon Moore, Rhys Murrell-Williamson and Alfie Young went begging for the hosts on Monday, and Vines concedes he and manager Tony Russell expected more from the troops.
“We’re frustrated. On the balance of the game, in the first half we didn’t deal with their formation and it took us going in at half time to address that,” adds the assistant boss.
“They’re intelligent boys but I feel they just got stuck trying to do the same thing with no real end result in the first half. And so we caused our own problems.
“But when we addressed it and changed the formation, I thought we were by far the better side. But we just huffed and puffed. We didn’t really cause their goalkeeper any problems. It looked nice but our quality in the final third was just not up to the standard that we would like and expect.
“When you consider the Carshalton game where we had 28 shots too, we’re creating chances and look full of pace. And that’s what I said to them before the game. I didn’t think Hastings had another gear and, while they were well drilled, well coached and well organised by the fantastic guys they’ve got down there, I didn’t feel they had another level to take themselves to, in terms of the tempo, whereas we did.
“And when we did step up the tempo you saw the difference, and we were in their third and dominating. But again our shots were going everywhere but the goal.”
Look ahead to Sheppey
Next up for Lewes is an FA Cup tie at Sheppey United. And Vines is looking forward to the break from the Isthmian Premier League.
“When in training we discuss shape and patterns, we look at the opposition that comes next,” he says.
“So our focus will be on Sheppey – it’s a nice time to have a break from the league. We’ve had a much better start than last season but across the league there’s been a lot of dropped points already. We’re a better side this time around.”