|
"We really have to defend better than we did, especially for the first goal", said a disappointed Hessenthaler. "We made a mistake and didn’t respond to it. We should have responded but we dropped out heads.
"Their second goal was a bit of good play to be fair but again we should really have defended better, we needed to get closer to them.
"They have got players in their side that can hurt you if you don’t get close to them and that’s exactly what happened for the second goal. 2-0 at half time means there is a mountain to climb and it would have been a great game for us to come back and win from there.
"We said at half time in the dressing room that it was up to us to get ourselves back into it. We had enough of the ball in the second half but I think we would have been out here at midnight and still not scored because they made it very difficult for us.
"The third goal was bad defending as well, leaving one at the back and that can’t be allowed to happen.
"But the turning point was definitely their first goal. It was awful defending by Chris Hope and he knows that. He should have put it out of the ground and not taken any chances and the lad Ian Moore is quick and he has put it in.
"We’re down tonight because we played so poorly. It’s a bad result for us and we have to put it behind us. It’s a shame because we have defended so well as a team in our opening three games but it was very disappointing to concede three goals the way we did."
It was a happier looking Stan after the game and no surprise after the duck had been broken in such an emphatic manner. "I enjoyed the game today, we lost the first three games but we had created the chances and today was no different", he beamed after the 3-0 victory.
"We looked very compact as a team and created a lot of chances and probably should have scored more goals than the three we did get.
"I changed the system (five in midfield) because I knew how Gillingham would play and I felt we needed that extra man in midfield. I thought Robbie Blake did particularly well there.
"We had the width too with Glen and Chaddy and Ian Moore led the line fantastically well. We passed the ball well and it was good football.
"Chaddy will start scoring goals soon if he keeps getting in those situations, he could have had a hat trick today, and if he keeps doing that the goals will come.
"It was very tiring out there today in the heat but all in all it was a good show, we knew they would bombard us but we weathered that storm well.
"It is a step in the right direction but I’ve said many times that one swallow doesn’t make a summer. We’ve been playing well but giving poor goals away, that didn’t happen today.