Prestedge: "Complacent Performances Have To Stop"

By Josh Cole 

Interview by Riley Finch 

The first half was a real ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ performance with the ‘Gate showing signs of life in the first 15-20 minutes, but Prezza saw a drop off in performance throughout the back end of the first half.

“I don’t think we played particularly well to be honest, we went into half time at 0-0, with the only positive being that we were 0-0 at the time. I thought we come out first 15-20 minutes, showed a bit of character and desire that we had on Saturday, but then went back to being complacent”.

Just after half-time it looked as though Prezza had got his boys playing at the levels he knows they are capable of, as Harry Hudson scored the opener just three minutes into the 2nd half.

However, just like the first, the second half was scarce in the way of clear-cut opportunities, but the scoreboard still showed Margate leading.

Unfortunately, despite going down to 10 men just moments before, Haringey would sneak an equaliser right at the death, leaving the gaffer devastated.

“We come out and took the lead just after half time and I thought we just rode our luck as we still weren’t playing well but we looked solid, but to concede the way we did is just gutting for all of us”.

Since Reece took over, Margate have always faired better against ‘better teams’ with the ‘Gate struggling to break down teams who suit the physical side of the game more.

This was highlighted by Prezza when he compared Tuesday’s performance to the Lewes game.

“I think that’s spot on (about Margate faring better against ‘better teams’) against Lewes we showed real strength in all areas, and we were comprehensive as a unit. We worked hard and fully deserved the win”.

“But to come here just two days later and start the way we did and play the way we did in the first half it’s disappointing. It’s hard to put a pin on it, even when I was here as a player, we were always that ‘up and down’ sort of team, never really finding consistent performances and I just said in there (dressing rooms) we could’ve gone 9th today and pulled far away from trouble”.

“You’ve got the Chatham game and the Lewes game, two really good sides in this division who will be up there at the end of it all, perform brilliantly, get the win and clean sheet, and then come here today and with no disrespect to Haringey not get the win today”.

“Looking at the last five games, we’ve got two wins two draws and one loss it’s not a bad run but if I look at the games that we drew and lost, I see it as a real missed opportunity”.

Tuesday saw the reinstatement of striker Steve Cawley, who recovered from his calf injury and captain Sam Blackman who served his suspension.

Reece talks on how he thought they performed in their return to the side.

“I thought they collectively did alright, obviously it was unfair on Olly and Fyn who performed brilliantly on Saturday, but we knew this game was going to be more of a physical battle so I went with the experience of those two players and they aren’t just any players either, one’s your captain and the other is your top goal scorer and those are the players you need against teams like Haringey who are going to fight till the death to get anything they can, so I thought it was a no brainer to start them”.

A consistent performer this season has been Harry Seaden, who pulled off some quality saves at important times during the game.

Prestedge states how important it is to have a ‘keeper you can rely on in big moments.

“I think he’s been quality ever since he joined, he’s been a breath of fresh air to us knowing that if they break through our backline, we have a keeper who is likely to win that 1v1 or pull off a magnificent save to keep us in the game”.

A big game awaits Margate next, a trip to South London to face Dulwich Hamlet and Reece wants his team fired up because the season is thick and fast and there is no time to dwell on missed opportunities.

“We’ve just got to pick ourselves up and go again. We’ve got Dulwich on Saturday so we’ll do a lot of prep work on Thursday, make sure that we know exactly where we are going with our game plan and how to stand the best chance of getting a result at a tough place to go”.

More news