Ryan Peters: 'Opening day defeat will not define our season'

The level of performance on show in Maidenhead United’s disappointing opening day defeat will not be repeated, assistant boss Ryan Peters has vowed.

The Magpies kicked off life back in the National League South with a frustrating 2-1 loss to Chesham United at a sweltering York Road.

Alan Devonshire’s new-look Magpies side hauled themselves back into the game with 15 minutes to spare with summer signing Josh Umerah cancelling out the visitors’ first-half strike.

But rather than kicking on to secure a comeback victory, Maidenhead were punished by some lapse set-piece defending.

Jordi Van Stappershoef failed to punch a corner clear and Chesham skipper Callum Adebiyi slammed home to hand the Generals all three points.

Assistant boss Ryan Peters said the performance did not reach the levels needed to compete at the top of the division, but maintained one result will not define the club’s season.

He said: “Performances like that will not win us the league, performances like that will not allow us to win more games than we lose and performances like that do not give us a chance of being involved in a play-off push, as an example.

“An Alan Devonshire team has always worked hard, always been in teams' faces and has always been hard to beat. If you have a look at the two goals that went in on Saturday, they were the opposite of what an Alan Devonshire team looks like.

“We know there’s going to be a marked improvement on Saturday and we know those games won’t come about too often.”

A return to a competitive National League South will pose a different test for the Magpies with visiting teams happy to soak up pressure and place the onus on Maidenhead to create chances.

Several opportunities came and went on Saturday, with Peters bemoaning the team’s profligacy in front of goal.

He added: “We’ve reviewed the game and our XG (Expected Goals) was 2.16. Our shots on goal were far superior to theirs, our possession was far superior to theirs, we just didn’t do enough with it.

“There was an element of quality lacking in that game which hasn’t been lacking all pre-season. Maybe, the endeavour to get into the opposition half a little bit more when the opposition sits off us wasn’t there.

“More often than not in the National League, we didn’t have any teams sit off us. Now, for some reason, we’ve become a big fish in this league.

“People are going to sit off us and it’s going to be harder to break down teams. In those moments, we’re going to have to be better.”

The manner of the goals conceded will also need to be rectified.

Chesham took a first half lead after the Magpies failed to clear their lines, allowing the ball to be recycled before Alfie Young tapped home an opener for the visitors.

Summer signing Van Stappershoef also might have done better when he failed to punch a corner clear before Adebiyi slammed home a winner.

But the result provides a reminder of the tough challenges which will be posed in the National League South and the long road which lies ahead if Maidenhead are to return to the National League at the first time of asking.

Peters added: “There are nine full-time teams in this league. We are under no illusions that it’s going to be incredibly hard. We are not even full-time.

“At no point have we ever thought we’re going to go into this league, walk the league and be back in the National League as quick as we came out of it.

“But we back ourselves, we backed ourselves for eight years in the National League and we’re going to back ourselves again this season.

“The only way we can make sure we’re giving our supporters full value is to find a level of performance that we never drop below. We dropped a little bit below that on Saturday.”

Maidenhead travel to North London for their first away fixture of the season at Enfield Town on Saturday.