Roger Herridge admitted it was a “disappointing weekend” for Binfield.
The Moles lost 4-1 at Shrivenham on Saturday before sharing the spoils in a 1-1 draw against Hellenic Premier high-flyers Ascot United at Hill Farm Lane on Monday evening.
Ascot took the lead when former Binfield man Harry Laflin netted from the penalty spot but Jemel Johnson quickly levelled up.
That is how it stayed, although there was late drama when both teams saw a man sent off with Gary Smith and Fabian Etienne given their marching orders.
“All in all it’s a disappointing weekend,” Herridge told The Wokingham Paper.
“We’d have certainly liked four or six points from the two games and we ended up with one.
“Last night in particular, I felt we were the more likely winners, certainly while it was 11 v 11.
“I thought we were a little bit wasteful in the first half. We got into some good areas and we just lacked a little bit of quality in our final ball and things didn’t quite drop for us, whereas on another day they might’ve done.”
He added: “We’ve gone 1-0 down against the run of play but we reacted well.
“I thought Ascot improved in the second half but I still felt at 11 v 11 there was only going to be one winner.
“Ascot had some young legs they brought on and they stretched us a little bit. In the last 10 minutes they had some good opportunities and could’ve nicked it.
“We’ve gone from being disappointed three quarters of the way through the game that we aren’t in front to the last 10 minutes where you’re pleased to hang on for a draw.”
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With a mounting injury list, Herridge had to call on some favours to field a competitive side on Monday evening.
Bracknell Town duo Sean Moore and Carl Davies both stepped in to play for Binfield, with the latter filling in up front as Eddie Lee wasn’t risked having played 90 minutes for the County FA side the previous day.
“It happens to us all but we have had some bad luck with injuries and that’s always going to affect you,” said Herridge.
“I had to work really hard on Sunday to make sure that we had a competitive team out last night.
“At the end of the day it was needs must.
“I’ve got a very good young forward who I had to leave on the bench yesterday, Eddie Lee. I did that because he had a good hour for us on Saturday and he played 90 minutes for the County on Sunday.
“You have a duty of care there. There’s no way in this world I could’ve played Eddie Lee last night in a game I would’ve wanted him to play in.
“Aaron (Steadman) from Ascot, who I’ve got an awful lot of time for, manages the County side and in hindsight I should’ve possibly said I only want Eddie to have 45 minutes on Sunday.”
BINFIELD: Grace, Shaw, Brown, Smith, Tuttle, Moore, Knight (c), Horscroft, Johnson, C. Davies, I. Davies (Peacock 78). Subs not used: Gavin, Piercy, Withers, Lee. Attendance: 187.
For more from Herridge and photos from the draw with Ascot, pick up a copy of this Thursday’s Wokingham Paper.
