Hitchin Town Football Club
Founded 1865, Reformed 1928
Robbie O'Keefe column
Sunday, September 28 2003
I want to thank all the supporters who came to Ford United last Tuesday night.
It was a hard game for us, especially as we waved farewell to Matt Nolan earlier in the day, but they were all marvellous.
We were beaten, but it was one of those games where things just didn't go our way. You could not fault the effort of any of our players and I think the reaction from the fans said it all.
All three goals on Tuesday came from us losing possession around the halfway line and Ford hitting us on the break. I'm not making excuses here, because the scoreline does not lie, but apart from the three efforts and another long-range effort that scraped the woodwork, our keeper was not very busy.
We know where it went wrong, and we worked on those elements in training this week.
Defeat was not the ideal preparation for the FA Cup tie with Folkestone yesterday, and I hope we are in the draw on Monday.
We are also now looking for some new faces after losing Dean and Matt in the past couple of weeks. I can appreciate that the fans are concerned that we have lost these lads, but we cannot stand in the way of progress for them and we feel that overall, we have got a good deal.
It is a tribute to everyone who has worked with Matt that he has gone on to become a professional - he's delighted and grateful for everything the club has tried to do for him, and it also cements our reputation as a club that develops young talent. We all wish him well- and equally, I look forward to unveiling the next Matty Nolan, which I am sure we will do in the near future!
