Whitley started their Buildbase FA Vase campaign with a comprehensive 6-0 victory over Esh Winning but asked if he felt the score was a fair reflection of the game, manager Andy Gowens replied “No not really, especially in the first half. They made it difficult for us in the first half. They used the ball quite well and we didn’t get started, we were giving the ball away in silly areas. We scored probably against the run of play. It was a scruffy goal the first one, but the second was a great goal by Jack. Then at 2-0 it’s a different game. Once we scored we settled down a bit but again like last week I think we didn’t really get going passing-wise, but while they hit the bar and post as well, our clinical finishing was the difference really. I wasn’t very happy at half time but a lot of them (the players) were saying that with the heat they felt drained.
“I think we played a lot better second half, we made a couple of changes and switched it around a bit. We got going with some fresh legs and yes, some great goals. But even then they (Esh) still created quite a lot, they were dangerous from corners and long throws but credit to us we dealt with it, came through and kept a clean sheet and you can’t ask for any more. It was good because although we didn’t perform to our best, we won and we won handsomely. I think we were always on top but it wasn’t the flowing football that we want to try and play. But we took our chances and they didn’t.”
Asked about the performance of debutant keeper Liam Powell, standing in for the unavailable Tom Flynn, he added “Liam has done really well, I cannot fault him. For his age he’s very confident, obviously a bit short of experience but it was a good performance and he kept a clean sheet as well.”
