Angry Gee reads riot act

Rainworth Miners Welfare manager Kevin Gee has demanded an immediate reaction from his players following Tuesday night's home Evo-Stik NPL Division One South defeat by bottom club Lincoln United, writes Gordon Foster.

The Wrens found themselves trailing 4-1 to previously winless Lincoln before making a fight of it and pulling two goals back, but ultimately missed out on salvaging anything from the wreckage of the first half.

Gee refused to praise his players for their comeback and instead insisted they only had themselves to blame in the first place.

He said: "All the players had been warned against complacency, but we threw the game away in the first half, which is what you do when it is effectively three against 11. Yes, we were much better in the second half, but you can't put in that sort of performance against anyone in this division and expect to get away with it.

"We played in the second half how we should have in the first, after the penny finally dropped, and if we had done that then this conversation would have been completely different. We had been outfought by a side showing far more passion and desire, and let ourselves down badly. And all the second half achieved was to show how bad we had been in the first."

Mixed results are sending Rainworth up and the down the league table to Gee's frustration. They went into the weekend fourth from bottom but the tight nature of the division was emphasised when Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Kidsgrove Athletic bumped them all the way up to twelfth. Tuesday's defeat then dropped them back down a couple of places when the expected win would have lifted them well into the top half. That expectancy, according to Gee, was at the root of the problem.

"The home truth to be learned is that we need to work harder over 90 minutes. Realistically we are a mid-table side, but this was a missed opportunity, and not the first one this season," he said.

"Mentally we were not at the races, and it was not until the penny dropped at half time that we got a reaction. Danny Bacon had a great chance to equalise, and if he had scored I think we would have gone on to win, but there is no way you should lose at home when scoring three goals.

"Now we need a big reaction from the players when we go to Northwich Victoria on Saturday, because if we don't work hard there we will be punished again. No disrespect to Lincoln, but it should be less difficult to beat them at home than to win at Northwich.

"We seem to hve gone full circle from last season - then we were not creating chances but we were slid and dependable in defence. Now we are starting to score a few we are loose at the back. It's too early to say whether there will be changes on Saturday. I will have to consider in the cold light of day, but we will just have to dust ourselves down and start again."