Gavin Cowan tells AFC Telford to find ruthless streak

Boss Gavin Cowan bemoaned AFC Telford United for lacking a killer instinct in their defeat to Farsley Celtic.

The Bucks slipped to a 2-0 home loss despite dominating the National North clash for long spells.

“Since I’ve been a manager that’s arguably the best 45 minutes I’ve seen (in the first half); that was an awesome showing from the lads,” said Cowan. “But the one thing we said at half-time is that we have to be more ruthless.

“We had a string of chances; we looked at the stats – crosses, shots, shots on target, shots off target, penalty area entries, second balls – if it had been a boxing match it would have been stopped, but it’s not, it’s a football match.

“They came to smash and grab and we fell foul to some of the dark arts, but I’m not complaining about that, it’s a part of the game.”

The Bucks held the whip hand in a one-sided first half, one that Cowan admitted left him with very little talking to do, unlike the half-time talk that spurred his side to victory at Darlington last weekend:

“It was hard to give any direction on what else to do, it was very much ‘be the same’. They changed their formation, but we kept knocking on the door and creating chances. I thought their two centre-halves defended for their lives, and we just needed a bit more desire to be on the end of things. That’s where forwards have to take responsibility, and the attacking midfielders.”

“A lot of people will be questioning our defenders, but I’m looking at out forwards and wondering why we’re not two, three, four goals ahead. The game should have been dead and buried.”

Cowan didn’t begrudge Farsley their victory, however, feeling that his own team let the game get away from them.

“I’m sure they didn’t imagine we’d have as many opportunities and as chances as we did, and they rode their luck, to say the least,” he added.

“But ultimately we weren’t ruthless enough and didn’t manage to get the ball into the back of the net. For 70 minutes we were out and out the best team, but when they scored it took the wind out of our sails, and it’s very hard to take when it’s like that.”

Frustration at the full-time whistle brought a dismissal for Bucks captain Ellis Deeney for a second bookable offence, to compound the day’s disappointment for Cowan.