Hemel boss disappointed after second straight defeat
Bobby Wilkinson said he felt a rare feeling of disappointment with his Hemel Hempstead Town players after they were beaten 3-2 at Dorking Wanderers on Saturday.
The Tudors were 2-0 down at the break and then 3-0 down shortly after it, but battled back to nearly earn a point.
And Wilkinson said it was the first-half performance that was key to the defeat.
He told the club’s media channels: “I don’t usually claim to be disappointed in my players but I am today with the first-half where we came in a couple of goals down and it should have been more.
"Dorking were clinical at times and their movement was very good and they deserved to win as I don’t think we turned up at all in the first-half.
"In the second-half we huffed and puffed for a while but then it was all one-sided and if we’d have been able to play for another five or six minutes we might have been able to make it 3-3. The only positives I can take from it is that in the last half-hour my boys showed why they’re at that top end of the table because we got that grit and determination and I’m very proud of them for that.
"I felt some of our lads played to the occasion but I don’t want to take anything away from Dorking who were very good having not had the best start to the season.”
The result was Hemel’s second defeat in a row having not lost any of their previous nine, but Wilkinson was keen to put things in perspective as they prepare to go to Chippenham Town on Saturday and then host Chelmsford City 48 hours later, who have won their last four league games.
He said: “It’s been a hell of a great start to the season and now we’re not playing particularly great, so now let’s turn it around, dig in and see some characters.
"Everyone knows what I’m like and I’ll dig in even harder now but we got some more minutes in from the boys who have been out injured.
"We’re in a great position and nothing’s changed from four weeks ago apart from every team that’s playing us wants to beat us because we’re at the top of the league so hopefully we’ve come off the top today and we can start preparing for the next game!”