AFC Newbiggin slump continues with fourth straight defeat

AFC Newbiggin succumbed to a fourth consecutive loss on Saturday afternoon, falling to a 3-1 home defeat at the hands of FC Hartlepool.

The Northumberland outfit raced into an early lead courtesy of a seventh-minute strike from Matthew Nelson, but would find themselves 2-1 behind at the interval as Hartlepool hit back through Carl Williams and Lewis Green.

Williams would then strike again four minutes into the second half to secure all three points for the visitors.

Speaking after the final whistle, when asked for the mood in the dressing room, Newbiggin coach Dan Ord said: “As you can imagine, really deflated. It's a tough one because it's the same old story.

“We all say the right things in there, and everyone knows what they want to do and knows how we want to play. It's come down to what we’ve conceded - it’s three balls into the box again. So yeah, pretty deflated.”

He continued: “There's been a lot going on, and stuff like that. During this period, we've conceded 16 goals [across the last four matches] - it's only natural that you lose a bit of confidence. My message would be, I believe in this group of players. All of us on the management team would believe in this group of players.

“Maybe we need to add to it a little bit. Maybe it's one or two. We’ve played against them today, they've got two or three big lumps. Every other team in this league has a big lump. Although we're tidy footballers, we're a young team and we're not very big.”

Ord added: “The thing is, that's football. Teams at all levels go through spells like this. It's unfortunate that in our spell, we conceded 16 goals in four games. It's not great, but it's football.

“At the end of the day, we'll come out in a few weeks' time - or maybe it's even next game - and we'll give a team a battering. I have no doubt that it's coming, we will give a team a battering.

“I think the thing is, don't get too low during the lows. Then enjoy the highs when they come.”