Huntly manager Allan Hale looks for team to bounce back from cup exit by winning midweek Highland League clash against Lossiemouth
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Allan Hale plans to work on the lapses which brought about Huntly’s cup exit on Saturday.
The Christie Park boss hopes to see his side react to their 2-1 home defeat to Inverurie Locos when they play host to Lossiemouth on league business tomorrow.
Hale pinpointed issues with his team’s first half show, and a failure to find a cutting edge when they chased the game after the break.
“It was a tale of two halves from a performance perspective,” he said. “I thought we were well off the standards we have set as a group in the first half.
“We didn’t press well, our shape was disjointed, we were poor in transition in both elements within the first half and we deservedly found ourselves behind after doing well to get ourselves level.
“We gave away a horrendous second goal from our point of view, the way we were set up to defend the counter-attack was horrific.
“It comes from a corner and we were set up, one player was out of position and we were caught on the counter and concede from it.
“In the second half we’ve got a lot of possession and apply the pressure but it’s going to happen with the squad that we’ve got because we are not that team that is going to play consistently well week in, week out.
“At times we were camped in the Locos half but couldn’t find the penetration that we were looking for, the killer pass to give us that golden moment. We started to rely on setpieces as our biggest threat which is a frustration when you look at the ways we have scored goals in the first two games.”
Next up for the Black and Golds is a Highland League clash at home to Lossiemouth.
The Coasters have tasted defeat in each of their three league outings so far. They went down 3-1 at Fraserburgh and 3-0 at home to Forres Mechanics before taking an early lead against Formartine United on Saturday, eventually sliiping to a 2-1 loss.
Hale said: "It will be a really tough game. I’ve known Frank (manager McGettrick) for a lot of years and I have a lot of time for him. He’s an excellent coach and he will set his team up really well.
"The feedback I got from their game on Saturday is that they were really unfortunate not to take a point off Formartine, which shows they are a very capable side.
"There’s been small margins defining our games against Lossiemouth in recent times so it’ll be a really tough game.
"For us it’s about rectifying the things that we never got right on Saturday and making sure that we improve in the final third."
