‘YOU’VE got to expect games like that,’ said Jersey Bulls assistant manager Kevan Nelson after it took a last-minute winner to see off the challenge of Balham on Saturday.
Jay Giles got the end of a James Quérée free-kick to head in the only goal of the game at Springfield.
Balham did their best to frustrate Bulls throughout, continually slowing the game down at every opportunity they could but in the end the three points went the home side’s way.
‘These teams can be quite resilient, they keep their shape and we’ve got to work hard to score,’ said Nelson.
‘We had some decent opportunities. If we can put one away earlier like we did against Redhill a few weeks ago then we can get into our rhythm. If we don’t get a goal early then becomes a little bit turgid.
‘Tadley looks like a decent draw now. We won in midweek comfortably against Sheerwater and played really well and we’ve got a 1-0 result here. So I think over the course of three games since the boys came back from Italy I think actually been quite a good little period for us.’
Bulls were missing top scorer Lorne Bickley through injury, with regulars Kamen Nafkha, Fraser Barlow and Joe Kilshaw also missing but Nelson praised the strength in depth of the squad and the new players coming such as teenagers Sammy Henia Kamau and Miguel Carvalho.
‘You’ve got to remember how many players have had mixing in and mixing out through injury and we’ve got the two young lads in now,’ he said.
‘We want those players around the squad because they’re the next generation and the best chance they’ve got is playing at this level. They’ve adapted themselves well, they’ve fitted in and it’s good to have them around the squad. We like having that level of quality.
‘We’ve utilised well over 20 players probably in the last four or five weeks,’ he continued.
‘It’s been a strength of ours. You’re going expect some disjointedness because some players aren’t playing every week.’
Asked about Balham’s negative tactics, Nelson added: ‘They slowed it down too much. If you do that, you’ve run the risk of not being able to get out again. It was really painful to watch. The ‘keeper slowed it down and there was people dropping all over the place for injuries that seemed to creep up on them; ghost injuries if you like. You expect a little bit of like gamesmanship, but it’s difficult when they’ve done so much of it to then try and pick them up because they’re not a bad side. They’re 12th or 13th in the league and that performance doesn’t do them enough justice. We struggled against them in the previous season. Certainly the last game we played them when they battered us.’
