Boreham Wood 2-1 FC Halifax Town: We needed to manage the game better, says Fullarton

Halifax took the lead with 20 minutes remaining through Nathan Clarke, but a brace from Josh Umerah, including a penalty deep into stoppage time, apparently awarded for a high foot by a Halifax player, sealed the hosts’ comeback.

When asked if it was a tough one to take, Fullarton said: “That’s football though, isn’t it?”

When asked what he thought of the penalty decision, the Town boss replied: “I couldn’t see from where I was, but it was in the 50th minute, which is the fifth minute of added time, and the board said four.”

Fullarton said he had told his players to focus on Gateshead, dust themselves down and go again after the match.

“You’ve got to put it into context. We’re coming away from home, but we’d have been disappointed with a point, because of the standards we’ve set,” said the Town boss.

“Having gone into the lead with 20 minutes to go, but if you get a point away from home against the beaten finalists in the play-offs, and we’d have been slightly disappointed with that, it shows we’ve made great strides.

“But we also have to lace it with reality, and manage the game to make sure that when they do equalise, we do leave with a point.”

Fullarton was happy with how the game had panned out until Boreham Wood’s equaliser.

“Give the players great credit, they understood what was being asked of them, they applied themselves and implemented the plan, and it got us into a good position,” he said.

“But what you’ve got to take into account is you’ve always got 11 other people trying to upset your plan.

“They (Boreham Wood) kept going, got the equaliser, gained a little bit of momentum from that, being the home team, and that resulted in the penalty.”

Fullarton felt aggrieved about when the penalty was awarded, but also about his team’s failure to see the game out.

“The board said four and they played five, before they took the corner,” he said.

“So obviously the communication between the referee and the fourth official must have been a bit confused.

“But that aside, we’ve got to manage the game and make sure that we deal with that, and we didn’t, and that’s why we’re leaving with no points instead of one.”

Fullarton said his players were disappointed at the result, but said it’s a good thing that their next game, at home to Gateshead on Monday, will come round so quickly.

“When we don’t reach our standards in terms of performances or results, then they are disappointed,” he said of his players.

“Whilst they’re disappointed because we had something to take home, and we’ve not, the advantage of this weekend is we’ve got two games in three days because now our focus turns to Gateshead, which is an opportunity to play at home and take three points.

“We’ll look what we did well and replicate, and it, and look what we could have done better and rectify it, that’s what we’ll try to do on Monday.

“If we go about the task on Monday like that, with the same determination that the players have shown in every game since I’ve been at this football club, then you put yourself in a good position to be able to win.”

New signings James Berrett and Joe Skarz both made their full debuts in the game at Boreham Wood, and Fullarton is pleased to have them both on board.

“They’re both experienced players, they’ve played league football for a number of years, and played a lot of games,” he said,

“When you’re adding players to your squad, you’re looking to have a balance of what they provide on and off the pitch in terms of socially and culturally, and within the group, and I think both will be good additions for us throughout the season.”

Fullarton confirmed that Michael Duckworth, Ryan Sellers, Josh Staunton and Niall Maher all missed the Boreham Wood game through injury, and when asked if any of them would be fit for the Gateshead game, said he would assess things today (Sunday) ahead of Monday’s match.