Cinderford Town manager, Matt Driscoll has said that he hopes his side’s performance on Saturday is “just a one-off.”
The Foresters fell to a 5-0 away defeat against Larkhall Athletic on Saturday and remain bottom of the Southern League Division One South.
A difficult afternoon.#TheForesters pic.twitter.com/A6d8at9Q4A
— Cinderford Town AFC (@Cinderford_Town) March 1, 2025
However, Driscoll’s side will have to regroup quickly as they face Westbury United tomorrow night, and he knows the performance level needs to drastically improve.
“I’m hoping the guys will look at themselves as individuals and collectively and see that it (Saturday’s performance) is not good enough to represent Cinderford Town,” he said.
“Our reaction has got to be on Tuesday. I don’t think we can ever play as bad as that again. I hope it’s just a one-off.”
He saw his side go into the break 4-0 down at the weekend, and despite other defeats by similar or heavier scorelines this season, Driscoll couldn’t hide his disappointment in this particular performance.
“That’s by far the worst performance of the season. This was a strong squad, and we did rotate some players, but we were just really, really poor.
“I think the only positive we can take is that it was only 5-0, it could have been 7, 8, or 9-0.”
Due to a postponement last weekend, this was the team’s first outing since their 2-0 victory in the GFA Senior Challenge Cup semi-final against Bristol Manor Farm, and Driscoll pointed out the difference he saw in the quality levels.
86’ | WE DOUBLE OUR LEAD!!
— Cinderford Town AFC (@Cinderford_Town) February 18, 2025
Alex Bonthron sees his initial effort saved but the rebound is headed into the back of the net!
0-2#TheForesters
“Going from Bristol Manor Farm to that, it was like chalk and cheese. We just looked like a different team, giving goals away, not tracking runners.”
He continued by saying: “I can’t understand how we could play so well against Manor Farm, who are a top team, win every fight, win every second ball, win every third ball, and come today and just look relaxed.
“We said in the changing room, me and Will (Morford), that the warm-up was poor. They were looking at the pitch, looking at the sun, and they weren’t interested. They came out today and they got what they deserved.”
Weather conditions have seen pitches not at the best quality, but despite Saturday’s game being on an artificial pitch, Driscoll said they didn’t play the right style of football.
“We were on a 4G pitch, and we turned up playing a long ball. At times, we’ve got to play football.
“If you’re in a mud bath, which some games we are, then you’ve got to go long, but we’re on 4G where you’ve got to play. When we went 5-0 down, we started playing football, I don’t understand it.”
The team are currently 14 points off safety, and can’t afford for many more slip-ups, something Driscoll is well aware of.
“We’re down in the relegation fight, and looking at that performance, we looked dead and buried. I’d like to think those players would run through brick walls, they didn’t. They didn’t try, they gave up, they were arguing with themselves.
“But look, it’s football, it happens. Hopefully this interview will be a lot different on Tuesday, but Saturday is just one of those games where you’ve just got to say, it happens in football.”
