Beckwith says Maidenhead United were punished for momentary lack of focus

Defender Sam Beckwith said that Maidenhead United were punished for a momentary lack of focus in Tuesday’s 1-0 home defeat to Altrincham.

The Magpies were caught slightly unawares just after a break for drinks in the 72nd minute and the Robins took a quick free-kick from which Chris Conn-Clarke blasted home the winner.

Beckwith said it was the one time in the game the team collectively failed to follow their ‘pre-match analysis on Altrincham’.

It was tough to take for a side that defended very well in general, but Beckwith hopes they’ll learn from it and bounce back with a morale-boosting result against Chesterfield on Saturday

“It’s always gutting when you give 100 per cent and you come out in the end with a 1-0 loss,” he said.

“Hopefully, we can put that right on Saturday and we’ll go into the game trying to get a result, which we badly need now.

“The defence was very solid. Their goal was from 30 yards out and he’s (Conn-Clarke) put it in the top corner which you can’t really do anything about, but maybe we could have stood on the ball.

“From our analysis we knew they liked to play a quick free kick, so we’ve got to be alert to that. The one time we didn’t do that they put it in the top corner.

“100 per cent we could have switched on better. The front men, midfielders or defenders, someone has got to go all guns blazing to the ball to try and block the shot.”

Tuesday’s loss means the Magpies have scored just once in eight matches. On the side’s current striking woes, Beckwith added: “I feel for Tobi and all the strikers because they’re working hard in training, and they all know we need to score goals.

“Defensively we’ve been doing alright but just have to keep working on the training ground and we’ll create these chances.

“We’ll go into the game against Chesterfield as underdogs but touch wood we always put on a good performance against them at home.”

United sit 21st in the National League table, fourth from bottom after 12 games, however, the league is very congested still and just six points separates ninth placed Woking from the Magpies.