Late Spirit to Snatch Scholars Point

Rugby Town produced a dramatic late comeback at Loughborough Students, fighting back from 2-0 down with less than ten minutes to play to secure a share of the spoils.

Speaking after the 2-2 draw at the Loughborough University Stadium, manager Grant Joshua admitted his emotions were mixed despite the spirited recovery:

"I expected a lot more in front of goal today.

"We showed good character to come back and get a point but we should never have been in that position in the first place.

"I’m not entirely sure if I'm pleased or disappointed with a point. Any other manager would say 2-0 down with seven minutes left they're happy with a point, but I expect so much more from this group of players.

"At some point we have to become consistently above average in front of goal – and that’s not just the forward players, it’s a collective issue.

"We’ve created golden opportunities and teams playing us don’t create many but punish us at every opportunity.

"Both boxes aren't good enough at the minute and we’re still searching for the right combinations.".

Joshua, however, was keen to highlight his side’s resilience:

“A positive from Saturday, which is a common theme, is that they don’t know when they are beat. We kept plugging away, kept bombing forward and eventually, based on chances created, we deservedly got back on level terms.

"We should really be winning that game if you look at the chances, but fair play to Loughborough – they caught us on two counter-attacks when we gave the ball away under no pressure and punished us."

The Valley boss says belief in the group remains high: “We never look out of any game due to the way we play. We will, 99% of the time, create chances in games, so coming from 2-0 down doesn't really surprise me.

"It’s just about our conversion rate – and it needs to be better. It’s unbeaten in three which is a small win, but we want more. We now feed back to the lads in training this week and quickly move on to the FA Trophy against the team sitting top of our league.

"I’m sure it’ll be a big crowd and we’ll be looking to have a more complete performance.”