Town’s Captain on the 2-1 defeat
Town Captain Alex Smithies cut a frustrated figure following the 2-1 Sky Bet Championship defeat at AFC Bournemouth.
The ‘keeper made three outstanding first-half saves to keep the game goalless going into the interval, but was powerless to stop Lewis Grabban and Tokelo Rantie from securing all three points for the home side.
“It’s disappointing. We probably didn’t deserve to win the game, but a draw would have been a decent result for us,” Alex told htafc.com.
“I don’t think I’ve played in conditions as bad as we had in the first-half, but it was difficult for both teams throughout the night and, at the end of the day, they’ve taken two chances opposed to our one.
“I felt I contributed tonight and when you do that as a goalkeeper you feel it might be your day, especially when we went in at 0-0 at half-time after being the second best team in the first-half. That wasn’t to be though.”
Town now haven’t won on the road in five games in the League and Alex is frustrated with the string of one goal defeats.
“It’s really frustrating. We’ve not been terrible and you can still see the improvement from last season. In terms of goal difference we are doing much better than last season, but at the end of the day a defeat is a defeat and recently away from home we haven’t been picking up points.
“We had a couple of chances towards the end of the game, but over the last few games that’s been the case and we haven’t taken them. It’s frustrating watching that happen from the other end of the pitch. I know our forwards will keep battling on though and as the chances come I’m sure they will take them.”
Despite tonight’s reversal, Smithies is still confident about Town’s prospects for the season, with the team currently firmly in mid-table in 13th.
“Tonight we’re all disappointed, but I still feel like we’re on the verge of something good. We’re not far off making that extra step forward. We’re competitive in every game – we haven’t lost games heavily – but recently we’re not picking up the points we want to.”
Alex reserved his final words for the 350 Town fans that made the mammoth journey to Dorset tonight.
“The fans were tremendous. I chucked my gloves in at the end because I felt like they deserved something to go home with. They have travelled down in terrible weather on a Tuesday night and all credit to them. The squad is very grateful and I’d like to thank them for their support.”
