Advertisement

Ethon Archer taking on talisman role, two points dropped and credit for 10-man Bromley - Cheltenham Town boss Michael Flynn after home draw

What did you make of that?

We threw away the two points, second half. It's always tough playing against 10 men and you are always expected to win. We got the goal and then we didn't play forward as quickly or make the right decisions as well as we could have today.

What particularly disappointed you?

READ MORE:Mountain biker robbed by gang of thieves on Leckampton Hill

READ MORE:“I may as well have been on the moon for what help I was for the lads” – Forest Green Rovers boss Steve Cotterill after win at Maidenhead United

That we didn't kill the game off. Their goal, obviously. They are a very difficult team to play against, land of the giants, we should have cleared the ball before they had a chance for a long throw. Even then, we weren't organised and we were screaming on from the touchline and if you leave someone who is 6ft 6in with a free header, you tend to get punished.

Could you see the goal coming, from the touchline?

It usually happens when you make a mistake. One leads to two, two leads to three and it's a goal, in the back of your net. All we had to do was clear the ball. I said to them at half-time not to make any mistakes, or give them any free hits to throw the ball into the box because it's what they are good at. I am going to give Bromley credit because they didn't stop, they made it very difficult in terms of the way they play, but it's down to us to get past that. Saying that, we should score at the end. We've hit the post and Ryan (Bowman) had the rest of the goal to aim at and it would have been three points.

Do you see it as two points dropped?

I do, yes. I am always going to say that if we are at home, playing against 10 men, but the boys have been fantastic and the effort was there again today. It was just that little bit of quality that we lacked.

When you got the goal, did you then think you'd go on and win?

You'd like to think you'd go on and win, but I didn't think it was a foregone conclusion. I've said many times it's hard to play against 10 men, especially the way they play. They stuck with the two up front, made sure they stayed in the game and got the equaliser. I think Andy (Woodman) has done a fantastic job and he has an honest group of players there, who don't know when they are beaten.

Ethon Archer with another goal, taking it to nine goal involvements this season. Have you been surprised by how quickly he's adapted to League football?

He has not surprised me how he's adapted to League football, but he's surprised me in how he's turned into a talisman, one of the main men and how he is dealing with that. He has a very, very bright future ahead of him.

When you say how he's dealing with it, what do you mean by that?

He's taken it on his shoulders, he's not going into his shell, not getting above his station, staying grounded, working hard for the team, good teammate to the rest of them, gets on well with them all, no chip on his shoulder, and he is still delivering the goods.

Couple of chances right at the end, but it was one of those days when it didn't quite go for you

I don't think we did enough in the second half. When they scored, we seemed to wake up a little bit. That was the frustrating thing. Even though we were comfortable until they scored, we let them grow into the game more and gave them impetus to put a lot more balls in our box that I would have liked. That's what I told them not to do at half-time.

Another corner routine from Luke Young nearly worked, with the Matty Taylor chance against the post

Yes, it was good awareness from Matty. I thought our set plays today could have been better as well. We didn't utilise when we had a three v two, or a two v one out wide. I can't say I don't want them to put balls in the box and I am telling us to put balls in the box because they are going to be favourite to win it because of the size of all their players. We are a fairly small team and we have to think, make decisions on the pitch and not have everything written down. The boys put in a hell of a shift, didn't stop and could have won it at the end, should have won it at the end, but it's another unbeaten game for us.

As well as the goal, Ethon Archer, made a great block to deny Michael Cheek so he has that side to his game as well, doesn't he?

He is well-liked, he has taken that onboard, knowing his defensive responsibilities and as I said, he has a really bright future.

Is Owen Evans available now?

Yes, he'll have a full week's training now and that's good. He'll be back, providing there is no relapses. He'll be back and we'll get ready to go to MK.

You are having to leave some good players out of the 18 now aren't you: Harrison Sohna, Manni Norkett, Lewis Shipley included

Yes and it's down to them. Harrison was left out for tactical reasons today because I don't think his game would have suited today's type of opponent. They are very physical, hitting diags and balls in the box, which is not his strong point. You might say we want to dictate the game, but they are a really organised team and hard to break down, so you have to win your battles first. We competed really well in those terms, but right at the end part of the pitch, we slowed things down, let them get set, and chose the wrong option at times. The attitude was superb.

You would love to have had Harry Pell for a game like that. Long way to go, but could he play again this season?

I am confident he will if he carries on the way he is going. He was out on the grass this week, for the first time, which is a positive sign, but he still has a long way to go. He's been really professional, got his head down and he's working as hard as he can in his rehab.