Tonbridge manager Steve McKimm reacts to the 4-2 defeat at Welling United
06:26, 27 August 2019
updated: 06:37, 27 August 2019
Tonbridge boss Steve McKimm felt his team paid the price for individual errors at Welling on Monday.
Angels sit bottom of the National League South table after a tough weekend saw them lose at home to title favourites Havant before going down in a derby at Park View Road.
While critical of his own team, McKimm also praised the quality of Welling’s finishing – particularly two-goal Bradley Goldberg.
“We made some errors but don’t get me wrong, they’ve got to finish them,” said McKimm. ”Bradley Goldberg’s second strike is probably one of the best you’ll see this season, a great touch and great finish across the keeper.
“But we’ve made the error by not dealing with the first ball, two of our players have collided by not talking.
“We made too many errors and that’s not taking it away from Welling. The errors cost us massively.
“I’m not having the excuse that it’s hot, they had near enough the same team as Saturday. I made a couple of changes which might have been an error on my part in hindsight but you have to take it on face value.
“We’re shooting ourselves in the foot. We did it on Saturday (against Havant) and we did it again. If we’d come in at 2-1 at half-time then started the second half well then we could have had a chance. But we gave that goal away on the stroke of half-time, then we gave another silly goal away.
“Great finishes by Welling, they were all taken well by three very good players that have played at this level and higher. Bradley has only had two or three chances and scored two goals, Cookie only had one chance and scored, Gavin McCallum had one chance and scored.
“At this level they don’t need many chances to put it in the back of the net.”
McKimm knows his team need to learn – and quickly – after stepping up from the Isthmian League.
“These players are always on the move, they read situations,” said McKimm.
“My players are still learning that but they need to learn it quickly. The difference is both boxes.
“I thought we caused them a few problems at times, we looked strong towards the end but the game was done by then.
“We created chances, that’s not the problem - we need to convert those chances. The other problem is we need to stop giving away silly goals. Apart from Nicky Bailey’s free-kick and Bradley Goldberg’s second goal, the others are preventable.
“Once you give yourselves a mountain to climb it’s very difficult, that’s what we did and it’s not good enough.
“We’ve lost 3-1 and 4-2, we’re scoring goals, if we can cut out the errors we can get a point here and there.
“It’s about doing the right things at the right time and not getting confused about what you’re being asked to do.”
