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Ian Evatt felt his side lacked positive decision-making in the final third, and branded the final ball as 'awful', as Wanderers were held to a goalless draw by Grimsby Town at the UniBol.
It leaves Evatt still waiting for his first home league goal, but the stalemate did end a run of four successive home defeats for Wanderers in all competitions at the start of 2020/21.
A game of few chances saw neither goalkeeper forced into a save, with Ali Crawford going closest for the hosts. But it was the delivery from wide areas in particular which left Evatt disappointed.
He said: “It was frustrating. I think tee to green, so to speak, we were good at times, we created enough final third entries to then warrant hurting the opposition, however our final ball was awful.
“We hit the first man far too many times, or we chose to make an extra pass, our decision making was really off in the final third.
“I think if we’d have got one then they would have crumbled and we’d have won comfortably.”
Evatt made one change to the side that recorded a first league win of the season seven days earlier as Jak Hickman replaced the injured Gethin Jones at right wing back, while there were places on the bench for Alex Baptiste, Reiss Greenidge and teenager Regan Riley.
Grimsby came into the game on the back of a three-week break because of Covid-19 related issues, but threatened first as Billy Crellin saved with his legs to keep out a Luke Hendrie strike following his break forward down the right.
The Whites were in the ascendancy from then on however, without being able to make the most of their territory, particularly down the right where Hickman was a constant outlet.
It was Crawford who looked the most likely to create, or find the back of the net, fizzing a free kick narrowly wide of the post in the 25th minute.
James McKeown in the Grimsby goal could claim to have had that one covered, but he was grateful to a fine block to keep out a goalbound Crawford strike after a neat lay-off from Eoin Doyle.
And the visiting keeper certainly wasn’t getting across to another Crawford free kick, this time from much closer in, which whistled past the post as he was left rooted to the spot.
Wanderers weren’t able to build on their strong end to the first half however, as the game failed to catch light until late on when things began to open up.
After a first clean sheet of the season, Evatt added: “We’re pleased with that, but we feel it’s two points dropped.
“We have to do more in the final third.”
Wanderers sent on Alex Baptiste, Liam Gordon and Brandon Comley, but the closing stages belonged to the visitors, whose changes in the attacking areas added some life to their side.
Terry Taylor fired just wide from the edge of the box, but the Mariners wasted several other good counter-attacking opportunities as the game become more open late on.
Substitutes Montel Gibson and Owura Edwards failed to hit the target from promising positions, with Wanderers lacking a clinical edge at the top end of the pitch as they went goalless for another home game.
“The delivery of both Hickman and Jamie (Mascoll) wasn’t good enough,” Evatt added.
“They both had enough opportunities to get in the ball in the right areas, we do it often enough in training, we’ve seen it in training, however, they hit the first man too often.
“We were making fundamental errors in the final third so we decided to change it.”
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It leaves Evatt still waiting for his first home league goal, but the stalemate did end a run of four successive home defeats for Wanderers in all competitions at the start of 2020/21.
A game of few chances saw neither goalkeeper forced into a save, with Ali Crawford going closest for the hosts. But it was the delivery from wide areas in particular which left Evatt disappointed.
He said: “It was frustrating. I think tee to green, so to speak, we were good at times, we created enough final third entries to then warrant hurting the opposition, however our final ball was awful.
“We hit the first man far too many times, or we chose to make an extra pass, our decision making was really off in the final third.
“I think if we’d have got one then they would have crumbled and we’d have won comfortably.”
Evatt made one change to the side that recorded a first league win of the season seven days earlier as Jak Hickman replaced the injured Gethin Jones at right wing back, while there were places on the bench for Alex Baptiste, Reiss Greenidge and teenager Regan Riley.
Grimsby came into the game on the back of a three-week break because of Covid-19 related issues, but threatened first as Billy Crellin saved with his legs to keep out a Luke Hendrie strike following his break forward down the right.
The Whites were in the ascendancy from then on however, without being able to make the most of their territory, particularly down the right where Hickman was a constant outlet.
It was Crawford who looked the most likely to create, or find the back of the net, fizzing a free kick narrowly wide of the post in the 25th minute.
James McKeown in the Grimsby goal could claim to have had that one covered, but he was grateful to a fine block to keep out a goalbound Crawford strike after a neat lay-off from Eoin Doyle.
And the visiting keeper certainly wasn’t getting across to another Crawford free kick, this time from much closer in, which whistled past the post as he was left rooted to the spot.
Wanderers weren’t able to build on their strong end to the first half however, as the game failed to catch light until late on when things began to open up.
After a first clean sheet of the season, Evatt added: “We’re pleased with that, but we feel it’s two points dropped.
“We have to do more in the final third.”
Wanderers sent on Alex Baptiste, Liam Gordon and Brandon Comley, but the closing stages belonged to the visitors, whose changes in the attacking areas added some life to their side.
Terry Taylor fired just wide from the edge of the box, but the Mariners wasted several other good counter-attacking opportunities as the game become more open late on.
Substitutes Montel Gibson and Owura Edwards failed to hit the target from promising positions, with Wanderers lacking a clinical edge at the top end of the pitch as they went goalless for another home game.
“The delivery of both Hickman and Jamie (Mascoll) wasn’t good enough,” Evatt added.
“They both had enough opportunities to get in the ball in the right areas, we do it often enough in training, we’ve seen it in training, however, they hit the first man too often.
“We were making fundamental errors in the final third so we decided to change it.”
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