Ringwood Town manager gives his thoughts on the club's 4-3 win over Infinity FC in the Wessex League
Ringwood climbed three places to 13th after beating Infinity FC 4-3 on Saturday afternoon with manager Richard Morse saying he was “pleased” with the win but that he was not “overly impressed” with his team's performance.
Morse’s team had taken an early lead through Josh Taylor’s 9th minute strike but found themselves trailing 2-1 by half time, leaving the Ringwood boss not too pleased with his side.
“I was disappointed with the goals we conceded, especially going 1-0 up and then going 2-1 down, which was a bit disappointing,” he said.
“The objective of the game was to get the points to be fair but I was not overly impressed with the performance, we could have done better in the way we played.
“Overall, I’m pleased we got the points, it was important for us before the game. The objective was to get the three points and we did that in the end.”
All three points were secured when Harry Smith smashed home a late winner deep into injury time - rounding off his hat-trick - in a stellar second half display from the striker.
Morse was pleased with his top scorer’s efforts after the game saying “he is always in the right place at the right time” and that it is “a good sign for a striker”.
He continued: “I’m pleased he got his hat-trick and he took his penalty well to make us go 3-2 up - there was a lot of pressure there - and then he got the winner which he celebrated like he had won the league!”
The coaching staff had tried to mix things up going into this tie and captain Ben Harris was moved from his regular position on the wing into a more central midfield role as Morse and his coaching staff looked to “freshen it up a little” in an attempt to kick start the club’s season.
When asked about moving Harris deeper into midfield, the Ringwood boss explained: “We put Ben in the middle and we tried to get him, Browner [Sammy Brown], Harrison Fay and JT [Josh Taylor] to rotate different positions to get Infinity thinking a little bit.
“So the thinking behind it was to give us something a little bit different in midfield where Ben could get on the ball.
“He is good at travelling with the ball, so when he gets on it he could travel with it, but we were hoping they would rotate a bit more and he would end up on the wing or upfront at times - it is something we need to work on more in training I think.
“We played him there last season and the season before and he did really well because of his energy and in what he can offer us as a team. He can run backwards and forwards, he works his socks off and we don’t have any problems putting him in that midfield role and luckily it paid off for us today.”
Morse also praised the Harris’ improved second half performance, adding: “I thought Ben got better as the game went on, he had a great strike that led to the second goal for the equaliser.”
With 10 points now on the board an a few games in hand on most of the teams above them, Morse wants the team to push on and try to achieve a playoff spot come the end of the season.
The objective is to get into the playoffs but we have given ourselves a bit of a hurdle to get over but there are plenty of games left to be won,” he added.
“We just need to keep climbing up the league - however we do it we just need to be getting up there
We are at home again next week against Petersfield who will be another strong team. Teams from Portsmouth are always tricky to play against but we will be up for that.”