Manager Martin Gray said York City had paid for missed chances and a couple of bad mistakes during their latest 2-1 defeat at promotion rivals Kidderminster Harriers.
Despite coming into a hugely important contest on the back of three straight defeats, their worst run of the season, Harriers found themselves a couple of goals ahead through Dan Bradley’s second-half double.
Skipper Sean Newton’s injury-time reply was then only scant consolation for the visitors as their opponents closed to within a single-point of them in the table with still two games in hand.
“Kidderminster have a very good style of play, but if you take your chances in the first-half you could have been 3-0 up or 3-0 down. That’s the way the game was,” Gray told BBC Radio York. “I think it was a game of chances and we got punished for two mistakes and you end up 2-0 down.
“They are a very good footballing team; they move the ball well and pass the ball well. Lots of their shots were from long-range and Adam Bartlett made one or two good saves from 20-25 yards out.
“But I thought the chances we created in the first-half were goals. And I think you take your chances and it changes the mentality of players.”
Gray revealed that he had been forced into a change at the break due to soon-to-be-suspended midfielder Simon Heslop suffering an injury.
“He was injured and will be out for a fair few weeks I think,” he continued. “It’s a stomach injury but we’ll see what he’s like tomorrow.
“I think you could see he was struggling to get around the pitch and running laboured. With the stomach strain he had from the weekend, it was probably a game too early.”
Meanwhile, striker Louis Almond was also withdrawn with the scoreline still blank early in the second-half.
“He’s played a full game on Saturday, his first for months,” Gray reasoned. “He’s played fifty minutes tonight and was always going to blow up at some stage. But I thought [Alex] Kempster came on and gave us some great energy – and Connor Smith [too].
“Had we scored the goal ten minutes earlier when Jon [Parkin’s] had a great chance, and one or two things fizzed past the post, you give yourself a better chance to gain a point out of the game.
“We’re punished for a mistake that we’ve made. And you’ve still got to stop the cross and defend the ball at the back stick. But again an individual error allows them to get a foothold in the game.
“That’s the way it is. We had a chance and then you make a mistake and get punished. And then you make another mistake and get punished.”
Audio Link: BBC Radio York
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