Mildenhall Town boss, Ricky Cornish, admitted that it was “a big chance missed” following his side’s 3-2 home defeat to mid-table Canvey Island in the Bostik North on Saturday.
The Hall entered the 90th minute nursing a 2-1 lead, with the prospect of cutting the deficit between themselves and safety to three points, when they then leaked two late goals to Ricky Merrifield, via a 90th minute penalty and a 95th minute breakaway goal.
The defeat has not confirmed The Hall’s relegation out of the Bostik (Isthmian) League, but they need a miracle to survive now, with just two fixtures remaining.
“From our point of view, it’s a big chance missed,” rued Cornish, who was appointed Mildenhall boss before last Christmas.
“Canvey are here with nothing to play for, and we are here with everything to play for.
“Witham are six points ahead and Romford are six points ahead now, so we have got to win both our last games and hope they both lose.
“Today was heart-breaking, but you look at it and you see that clearly we are not good enough.
“We created far more chances and they scored a penalty (90th minute equaliser), where the guy has hand-balled it in the corner. The linesman has not given it, the ball goes into the box and ‘yes’ it was a penalty, I’m not going to argue with that.
“We are then chasing the game. We give a free-kick away, they smash it down the pitch and win the header – one touch and it’s a goal.
“It’s not acceptable – I know that, and they know that.
“It was a very poor goal to concede, and they have been told that in no uncertain times again.
“They’ve made the same mistakes, week in week out. We try and rectify it in training, but they don’t listen.
“We didn’t press Canvey as much as we should have, we know that.
“We made the right (tactical) decisions. Matt Hayden came on and scored a good header (to make it 2-1), and for the last five minutes Tommy Robinson had hurt his shoulder a little bit and so had to come off. Neither of them were at fault for anything, but we win as a team and we lose as a team.”
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