Coach says Heacham have to be better in both boxes

Heacham coach Ross McNeil says his side must improve at both ends of the pitch after a frustrating home defeat to Lakenheath on Saturday.Nathan Davies gave the Magpies a half-time advantage with an excellent finish in the Premier Division encounter before the visitors fought back to claim the three points through a Luke Young brace in the second half.The final scoreline was harsh on the home side, who created several chances to equalise but found Lakenheath goalkeeper Ross Bilham in excellent form between the posts.Reflecting on the defeat, Magpies coach Ross McNeil said: “I said to their goalkeeper, fair play mate, you’ve won your team the three points.”I think the difference today is that we’ve got to be more clinical. We’ve got a great set of young lads who give their all, but we’ve got to be better in both boxes.“They’re a great group with great attitudes and we’ve created some good chances, but you’ve been around long enough and I’ve been around long enough to know you’ve got to be a lot more clinical in both boxes.”Their goalkeeper has made three outstanding saves whereas Aaron Watson has stood and watched the majority of the game and has had to pick the ball out of the net twice after two good finishes.”Heacham handed a home debut to Tyler Knowles, who had an outstanding afternoon for the hosts, while there was also a debut for young defender Harry Cupitt – signed from Swaffham Town on the morning of the game.”We’re proud of the lads and we’ve got great young set of lads and are building for the future,” said McNeil“They give their all but some of them have never played it at Step 5. It’s a hard league to play and we’re learning that each week.”Even when we went 2-1 down the important thing is that we kept going and our heads never dropped. Their goalkeeper has made two unbelievable saves towards the end, especially the one from Tyler Knowles.”Young defender Owen Gilbert remains sidelined, but the loss of striker John Flanagan to a knee injury has been a big blow to the club this season.McNeil admitted his absence has been a tough pill to swallow.”We’ve got a good group of lads in there,” he said.”They all love playing for each other and they all love playing for each football club. That’s a good recipe for the future but I feel we are just lacking an experienced head up top.“We had big Jack (Defty) two years ago and this season we’ve sorely missed John Flanagan. That’s 25 goals out of your side and a lot of experience for starters.”We miss him, but he’s on his way back. He’s had a few scans and we’re desperate for him to get back as he’ll be like a new signing.”We’ve missed that experience but that comes at a cost. We’ll keep trying to develop young players at home and keep going with our youth policy.”