Newport City 2-3 Croesyceiliog | Post-Match Interview With Sam Houldsworth
Following Newport City’s 3-2 defeat at home to Croesyceiliog on Wednesday evening, manager Sam Houldsworth gave his thoughts on the game and the agony of missing out on the chance to get the first points of the season.
Speaking after the match, the City head coach and chairman said, “Yeah, it’s one of those games where we should be 5-0 up after ten [minutes]. Ten minutes gone we were all over them.
“We get a nice early goal and you think that’s it – game over. But fair play to them they’ve turned it around and we’ve totally collapsed and done what we’ve done all season; keep missing chance after chance, so we are where we deserve to be.”
In relation to Jack Wheeler’s goal, Houldsworth added: “Well, look, if that happens after two minutes, you think you can go on and jump on it. It’s a great goal for him and he hasn’t been here, so coming straight into the squad makes you think ‘great here we go’ and the chances that followed on straight afterwards but yeah, not meant to be. Great finish but at the end of the day means nothing when we end up losing the game.”
The home side went into half-time leading the game, however, the opposition managed to turn it around in the second half.
“I was disappointed at half-time. We were 1-0 up but I was disappointed because we missed so many chances and stressed that to them [the players]. You just know when you miss clear chances like that when you’re going into a game that a team like this will punish you anyway.”
When asked about Dean Clifford’s performance, Houldsworth admitted, “Yeah, we’ve missed Dean a lot and he is one of our key players – to have him back is great.
“I think he was the best player on the pitch for us and look, he’s coming back into fitness, so it’s great to have him back but it’s a shame he can’t be on the winning team.”
Watch the full interview here:
The Steelmen host Cefn Cribwr in the Ardal South League Cup on Saturday.