HOLSWORTHY boss Ryan Hall pulled no punches with his assessment of his side’s performance as they were beaten 1-0 at Dobwalls on Tuesday night in SWPL Premier West.

The Magpies headed to Lantoom Park in buoyant mood after a 2-1 victory at Camelford in their opener three days earlier, but failed to get going as a dogged home side made it six points from a possible six thanks to Josh Johnson’s penalty.

A disappointed Hall wasn’t too pleased with his own side or the conduct of their opponents.

He told the Post: “It was really poor from our point of view, we never got going. 

“To be honest the game lacked quality all over and it look very pre-season rusty. 

“I am particularly frustrated with the antics that were played, but fair play it worked and it stopped us from being able to move forward, build any sort of momentum throughout. “Dobwalls had the better chances in the game, but everything around it just feels anti-football.”

Despite their lack of impetus, the Magpies were level at half-time.

He said: “We tried to address where the space was and that we hadn't particularly played well but had created some good opportunities, so it was likely if we upped our levels and quality, we would get something out of the game. 

“We mentioned, that the only way they would have scored, would be through a mistake from ourselves and unfortunately that’s exactly how it panned out.”

Johnson’s third goal of the season proved decisive, and Hall had emphasised their dangers at the break, adding: “We addressed a particular issue at half-time and it just so happened that same issue was the one that un-did us in the end. 

“I thought on the whole, we looked good defensively, but if you don’t deal with danger, eventually it’s going to come back and bite you and thats exactly what happened.”

Hall knows his young side to be become more streetwise if they are to improve on last year’s mid-table finish.

He said: “There were a couple of individual performances I was happy with and to be fair to the lads, they kept going and battled to the very end, but it’s difficult when every contact was a foul, or the ball being launched 10 miles away every time it went out, which slowed down play to a point it felt like it was stopping every 10 seconds. 

“As a group though, we need to be wiser to those situations, they sucked us in and we took the bait, which is a bitter pill to swallow.

“We also lacked a serious amount of quality which didn’t help us when we got into good positions. I’d rather it happen now than later in the season, but still, a very frustrating night.”

Holsworthy welcome one of the title favourites to Upcott Field on Wednesday night when they take on Liskeard Athletic (7.30pm), and Hall knows it’ll be a challenge.

Speaking on Wednesday, he said: “We’re going to train on Thursday, work back the Veo video and then we have a lot away at Boardmasters, which isn't ideal preparation going into the Liskeard game, but we will do what we can with who we have.

“We know it’s going to be an immensely tough game, they have signed some good players over the summer and they're going to be one of the teams at the top of the table this season. 

“Last year we had them third game and we were very poor in an 8-1 defeat, so fingers crossed we have learned some lessons.”