Graham Turner's thoughts after the 1-0 defeat at Oldham Athletic
Graham Turner emerged from the tunnel at a drizzly Boundary Park to talk to the press after another defeat for his side on the road – this time by the only goal at Oldham. But the Town chief thought his side were denied a clear cut penalty and that their efforts deserved a share of the spoils:
“I was frustrated because I thought the second half performance was a decent one,” he said. “I thought we had a lot of the ball and got it into good areas. Perhaps we didn’t produce the final ball at times and we should have had a penalty. The lads in the dressing room were adamant that there was a foul on Marvin. But we were slow in starting the game and paid the penalty as we never got our game going for the first 20 minutes or so. We expected them to close the ball and not give us any time to play. You only had to read their manager’s notes where they had studied our performance against MK Dons to know that they would be out of the blocks and pressing the ball as quickly as they could. But in the second half we did what was asked of us up to a point. We had to defend desperately from a couple of corners which were whipped in with plenty of pace but I thought generally we defended our goal well.”
Graham was disappointed at the manner of the goal which separated the two sides: “We got caught down the sides and we should have dealt with the cross better but it was one of those things and we did have plenty of time to recover from it but couldn’t,” said the Shrews boss.
Turner was asked if he felt an opportunity had been lost here in what some people might refer to as a ‘six-pointer’: “Without a doubt because we should have come away with at least a point so from that perspective you have to say it’s a lost opportunity. The lads around the penalty incident were astounded that the referee didn’t give it. Matt Richards was as close as anybody and he can’t believe the ref’s decision not to award it. But there have been several times this season where we haven’t been awarded one so we have to keep going now.”
Cameron Gayle was drafted in for an unexpected debut with Julian Bennett troubled by a hip problem but Turner was pleased with the young defender’s contribution: “I think he’s a tidy player and is comfortable anywhere across the back four,” said Turner. “In the second half he used the ball well playing it into the front men and feeding the wide players which is what was expected of him. For a young lad to come in after just one day’s training – he wouldn’t have been pitched in if Julian had been fit – I think he’s acquitted himself really well.”
Town have a two week break now before they face Crawley away in a fortnight but the manager admitted that three points from an available thirty on their travels is unacceptable: “We have spoken about this and it’s not good enough when you see we’ve got 15 points from our home games. It’s not from a lack of effort – maybe it’s a confidence thing but we have to believe it will turn for us if we carry ion playing the way we have been doing.”
Shrewsbury have a reserve game against Port Vale on Tuesday before being set a training schedule for the rest of the time leading up to the game at Crawley.