Bartlett demands derby defeat reaction
Boss Gordon Bartlett says he does not want a “defeatist attitude” around the Wealdstone camp after they were beaten 2-1 by Hayes and Yeading on Saturday.
Pat Cox’s brace put United into a 2-0 lead at half-time and although the Stones dominated in the second half, pulling a goal back through Scott McGleish, they were unable to muster an equaliser, leaving them in the bottom two of Conference South.
Bartlett said: “We’ve lost again but I don’t want a defeatist attitude around the place.
“We need to bounce back quickly. There’s a bit of belief in the changing room that we haven’t been outplayed, except for last week [against Bromley] and very often we’ve had the better of it.
“What you can’t do in this league is give the opposition a chance. We did that and in the end we paid the price.”
Bartlett refused to blame either referee Derek Eaton or captain Sean Cronin for the controversial early penalty awarded against the Stones defender for apparently pulling down Cox off the ball.
The Wealdstone boss said: “The referee’s given something. If that’s indiscipline on our part then he [Cronin] has got to carry the can. I didn’t see it so I can’t pass judgement, but it definitely influenced the game because we were well on top at that stage.
“In fact we were well on top for 90 minutes I felt. The bottom line is we haven’t won, for all our dominance.”
Hayes and Yeading assistant manager Tristan Lewis, who took charge of the side with Phil Babb away, admitted Wealdstone were unfortunate to lose the game.
He said: “Wealdstone battered us really second half. They’ll be a little bit angry they haven’t got a point out of the game or maybe even three.
“But I don’t want to take anything away from our boys, their determination to get three points was fantastic. We could’ve thrown it away but the attitude and spirit allowed us not to.
“I said to the boys at the end that I’ve been here three years and I think for the last three years we’d have probably lost that.
I’m really pleased for the supporters as well, it’s a massive win for them.”
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