Allinson pleased by first victory
Lee Allinson hailed a ‘hard’ three points after his Hemel Hempstead Town side won 1-0 at Slough last weekend.
Joe White’s fourth minute header was the difference between the two sides as the Tudors claimed their first win of the campaign, with a trip to Maidenhead United on Tuesday night – played after this week’s Gazette had gone to press – next on the horizon.
And Allinson told the club’s media it was a tough battle, Mauro Vilhete sent off for a second yellow card in stoppage time but Hemel hanging on.
Allinson said: “It was a hard game, I think like every single game in this league is going to be.
"I thought for the first 20 minutes we were excellent, really in the ascendancy, front-footed and playing some nice stuff and scoring a really good goal.
"Then I just felt we got embroiled into a battle that we didn’t need to get into and invited pressure, but I thought our fitness levels were brilliant again as we matched Slough.
"We’re not there yet but it was all about grit, determination and I thought defensively we were brilliant.
"We changed shape to accommodate their shape and it worked, so overall I think it’s a great day. It’s 1-0, it’s away from home and we won our first game in the league which is always important.”
After the midweek Maidenhead game, attention then turns to a Bank Holiday double header as Hemel host Dorking Wanderers on Saturday before going to one of the league’s new additions, Dagenham & Redbridge on Monday.
Allinson added: “We’ll approach every game as one game at a time but if you do see our fixtures now over the next five or six games it’s very intense, against full-time teams and even National League or play-off teams from last year.
"So we’ve got to go there and be big and strong and try to play when we can but also defend our box.”