Southport boss Liam Watson expressed his frustration as they were held 2-2 against Brackley Town.
The Yellows made it four points from a possible nine as they enjoy a run of home matches. They went into Tuesday’s on a high after Jordan Archer’s brace helped them past Chorley.
Against the Saints, Chris Doyle fired the Yellows in front after just two minutes but Roger Johnson’s side hit back with goals both sides of the half-time whistle.
A handful of chances went begging for the hosts but Declan Evans, who was introduced during the interval after a double change, headed Southport back level.
The Port manager was left disappointed after their bright start slowly fizzled out. He told Off The Park: “Disappointing, I thought we’ve dropped two points tonight. Two goals we give away were poor, really poor.
“At half-time, we’ve gone on and made two substitutions, the idea was that we’re not happy with a draw, go and get at them. As the game went on, we’re the ones who have missed the clearcut chances, Jordan Archer’s header, Chris Doyle at the end.
“We’ve come out and committed the cardinal sin, conceding a poor goal. Showed a bit of character to come back but we conceded goals at poor times and that’s why we’ve come away with one point rather than three.”
MATCH REPORT: Southport 2-2 Brackley Town: Port rue missed chances in Saints draw
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Despite Doyle’s opener, Brackley slowly grown in confidence and unlocked Southport’s stubborn defence easily after a simple through ball before a scrappy second handed the visitors the lead.
“I think we took a lead very very early and it’s took them 30 minutes to get back into it,” he added. “From our point of view, it’s just really naive defending, switched off, played a ball inside us, Keenan’s put his hand up but we’ve got to make sure we get better.
“We have to remember a lot of these are stepping up for the first year, coming across proven players at the level and you will be found out. Unfortunately, we got found out on the first and the second was just poor.”
On Monday, it was confirmed that Marcus Carver would return to Scunthorpe United after being recalled. The former Southport striker enjoyed a loan spell with the Sandgrounders as he looked to find his confidence and step up his return from injury.
Carver had been credited with his influence in lifting the Yellows during his one-month loan with Southport turning around their fortunes – which included a run of three away wins out of four.
He continued: “It’s good the fact we have been scoring and we have been scoring consistently of late. It’s important we gone and got a result on the back of Marcus [Carver] leaving because everyone will look to use that as an excuse if you don’t get a result.
“We got through the game, everyone seems to come through unscathed. We move on to Farsley on Saturday, we’ve got to try pick up three points.”
Doyle could’ve snatched the points at the death, doubling his seasonal tally, but forced Danny Lewis into a good save. Jordan Archer also found himself on his haunches after squandering a free header from 12 yards with the score at 1-1.
Ahead of the game, Watson envisaged that they would cause the then-league leaders problems, eyeing three points in the process.
He said: “There was a few guilt-edged chances and that’s the most disappointing side. I suppose on the balance of play, you come away a little flat, give away two poor goals and missed two or three fabulous chances.
“Would you have taken a point before the game? I probably wouldn’t have, I thought we’d cause them problems.
“They’re one of the oldest teams in the division, the idea was the longer the game went on, I think our legs would’ve come into it which they did but you come back to poor goals.”
Another positive for the Southport manager was Connor Heath making his first appearance after signing from Nantwich Town.
The attacker has been slowly integrated into the squad, enduring time on the bench but in his first introduction, he played an instrumental part in the equaliser.
“He done great for us for the goal, he got his body in, got us back in possession, laid it off. Great ball by Keenan, great goal by Dec.”
[Featured image: Julia Urwin – Southport FC]
