Needham Market Manager Kevin Horlock reflects on last night's win over Framlingham Town in the Suffolk Champions Charity Cup.
DK: Another win, that's the main thing!
KH: Yeah, I think that was about it really! I think it wasn't particularly a good game, we were way below par. I think you've got to give Framlingham credit, obviously they're several leagues below us. They've come up to Needham, they've set their stall out, been difficult to break down, but we were way below par tonight. And it took so long for us to get our noses in front and in the end it looks like a comfortable win, but there wasn't many chances in the game, which was disappointing - the lads know that we need to be better, and we will be of course, but like I say it is another win, clean sheet, and a trophy at the end of it, and it was all for charity obviously, which is the main thing.
DK: Main thing is the breakthroughs came at the death.
KH: Yeah, look we weren't good tonight, we want us to be more free flowing, we wanted to have more cutting edge going forward, but I'll take a little bit of the blame I changed the shape, we hadn't worked of it, obviously we've got several players missing but I expected us to dominate the football tonight and we were just a little bit lacklustre, obviously again I'm not taking anything away from Framlingham, thought they came here, put up a good show and a good fight and they were difficult to break down and they were in the game for the majority of it. So from their point of view you've got to congratulate them, give them a pat on the back, I think that's important, but we all know that we were under par and not good enough tonight.
DK: Jake Dye's on another hot-streak at the minute!
KH: Yeah, it seems it! I wasn't actually sure who scored it actually, I turned away and just seen the ball hit the back of the net and someone said it was Jake Dye! We put in a couple of decent balls in from set-pieces tonight and we didn't really attack them with any purpose, but Jake did and obviously Jake Dye doesn't miss from a yard out!
DK: Do you see, probably said about it before, this pre-season so far as progress in working on stuff we didn't do last year?
KH: Yeah, we try to, obviously in amongst trying to get the lads fit - obviously several games left before we're going to be up with speed, but they've all been different tests in their own right. Tonight was always gonig to be a tough one, even though the difference in status in terms of league positions, because it's a one-off game obviously a massive game for them, they want to come and they've got some good young players that they want to show how good they are and maybe prove a point that they've got a chance of playing higher, so it was always going to be tough, but look we've won, we've not conceded so there'll be tougher tests coming up, not more so than Braintree obviously on Saturday. So we'll have to be way better then, it's just a frustrating time pre-season really, in terms of you've never got a full squad, I think we had four, or five, missing tonight and then a couple come back then there's more missing. So we don't really get a full squad to pick from and to work on things fully, but we're obviously training inbetween that as well so by the time the season starts we'll be ready and raring to go.
DK: Like you say, the main thing is that we've won it 3 years on the trot now!
KH: Yeah, and it's important, I said to the lads, all games are important. I know people harp on about, 'it's pre-season, it doesn't really matter,' it does matter. It does matter, because when you play football and you cross that white line, it doesn't matter if it's for charity - like it is tonight, whether it's in training, or in five-a-side, whenever you cross that line and you're playing football, you have to have that mindset that you want to win and dominate your opponents, so it does matter. Results do matter in pre-season, albeit I've been involved in pre-seasons where we've been brilliant over the years and not lost a game and then been terrible when the league starts, in the same breath I've lost every game in pre-season and had league campaigns and won the division - so it's hard to gage where you're gonig to be in terms of from the form in pre-season, but all I will know, all I do know is that we'll work hard and we'll be as fit as we can be. Lads will know what they're doing and we'll give everything. I've got good players here so I'm looking forward to the season.
DK: Another big moment was Seth (Chambers), getting himself off the mark for the new season!
KH: I thought he did okay when he came on, actually Seth, he's obviously had several games elsewhere and he ran the channels well, just the real basic stuff of a number nine really, he ran the channels well, obviously won the penalty himself and it was cooly tucked away, so I was pleased for him.
DK: Tev had his first game back after missing Saturday, he played well as well.
KH: I think we've made good signings, obviously some will take more time to bed in than others, but Tev's been in and around this level, he's knows the lads, he's got quality, he's got an infectious personality where we drives people on, he wants to win, he's a little chirpy, which I like, he's a good character to have and he's been a real good addition! And he can play a number of positions, we see him at right-wing back first half and then he was the driving force in midfield in the second half, so he's a good player and I'm glad we've got him!
DK: Despite all the disruptions within the squad, you're happy with how it's going on so far?
KH: Yeah, I'm manager at the football club, so I'm always the one that's going to be driving standards and I would loved for us to have been much beeter than we were tonight, we weren't good enough tonight. Good enough to win the game, obviously, but going forward I'm thinking ahead of the season if we play like that in the league campaign, we definitely don't win the game so we need to be better, we need to improve and I'll always try drive that, I think that's my job and Tom's and obviously the staff's, but I'm pleased with the squad I've got. I think I said it in the first interview (at Newmarket), it's way more balanced than it has been, we've got options in different areas, we had play different formations, we've got personnel that can hurt people so I will have a headache if everyone stays fit, which is, again, a big thing in pre-season. You want your team to stay fit, which we are, I'm going to have a headache come the first game of the season (Stratford Town away) when I've got to pick the starting eleven.
DK: Like you say on Saturday, Braintree, with no disrespect to anyone, it'll arguably be our biggest test of our pre-season schedule.
KH: Yeah, I know Gelo (Angelo Harrop) really well, I played with him at Needham, he's a great lad and he's cutting his teeth in management, but he's done unbelievably well, he did well at Sudbury the year before, he's gone in at Braintree and nobody apart from himself, his staff and the players that he got really gave him a chance and they did unbelievably well, so it's going to be a tough test for us of course, but again, a little bit like Framlingham probably were tonight, you want to pit yourself at teams in the higher divisions to see where you're at. I've got players that will hopefully go onto play at Braintree's level and beyond that and it's an opportunity for them that day to prove that and we'll see where we're at.
Hopefully we will have our leader and talisman Kieran back in good spirits
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