Harborough Town boss Mitch Austin remains gracious in defeat after Hereford disappointment
Mitch Austin had no complaints about the results or referee in Harborough Town’s 3-0 loss to Hereford FC.
Well beaten by second-half goals from Harrison Iwunze, Cawley Cox and Danny Waldron, Harborough suffered their first home league defeat in a remarkable 514 days.
It was a game plagued by controversy as the Bees were denied a penalty from a flying kick from the Hereford goalkeeper and a resultant melee nearly saw players sent off.
Meanwhile, the Bees struck the woodwork on several occasions and missed a gilt-edged opportunity with a close-range header wide at the far post.
“I’m bittery disappointed, as in the first half I hought we made a good account of ourselves and I felt we could get at them in the second,” Austin told the Harborough Mail.
“A mistake so early has knocked the stuffing out of us. It’s poor because we gave it to them, to an extent. They’re a very good team and we got beat by the better side.
“We’ve been really good in phases again tonight but we’re missing that clinical edge. It might be something to look at, but let’s not panic, we’ve come up against a good team.”
Referee Brandon Scaife got plenty of stick from the home support throughout but Austin didn’t grumble about the officials.
“I didn’t think he was that bad, I felt he had a good game,” Austin said. “Most refs have a good game at this level. We certainly didn’t lose because of the ref tonight.”
On the second-half brawl which saw a host of players shoved onto the ground, Austin commented: “That was handbags, wasn't it!?
“We needed one of them things (decisions) to fall our way and unfortunately they didn’t.”
On George Carline and Riley O’Sullivan’s yellow cards and whether he liked the passion they showed, Austin added: “No, I’d rather them put the ball in the back of the net to be honest!”
Austin also received a booking a little later on, after he fronted up with the Hereford staff down on the touchline.
The Bees boss was upset with how one of their coaches was behaving before and after the third goal.
But the pair made up afterwards, shaking hands in the clubhouse.
Harborough, now 12th in the National League North, are next back in action this Saturday, September 12 as they take on AFC Telford United.
That game, taking place at the Beehive, gets underway at 3pm.