O'Brien demands more despite convincing Maidenhead win over Enfield

Maidenhead United’s management team were far happier with their second half performance against Enfield Town on Saturday, with interim assistant Aaron O’Brien admitting they struggled to create chances and move the ball quickly enough in the first half.

On a stodgy, heavy pitch, and lacking fluency after an unwanted two-week break from competitive football, the Magpies were more than matched by their lowly visitors in the opening 40 minutes.

The turning point came when Asher Yearwood tricked his way past Ruaridh Donaldson and tempted the midfielder into a trip which earned him a second yellow card. It was slightly harsh on the Towners’ midfielder as his first caution earlier in the period had been debatable.

From there you sensed the Magpies had their opponents where they wanted them, and some clever tweaks to the line up in the second half, with Sam Barratt coming on to replace the on-loan Jaiden Celestine-Charles in attack, gave the home side the edge.

United took the lead on the hour mark, with Liam Dulson firing home from the edge of the area with the visitors complaining of a perceived foul on Lamar Reynolds by David Mantle in the build-up. They also had another player down injured as the move progressed, but their appeals fell on deaf ears and O’Brien felt they had little to complain about.

Maidenhead’s second came from the penalty spot after the increasingly influential Yearwood was tripped in the area after another surging run from Dulson. Barratt slammed his spot kick right down the middle – no Panenka’s here! Barratt then completed the job with a second from close range after Josh Popoola had seen his close-range effort blocked.

Speaking afterwards, O’Brien said: “First half we weren’t happy at all,” he said. “We had a lot of the ball but didn’t really create. And if you don’t create, in any league, you’re not going to win games.

“We spoke at half-time about what we wanted from the boys, and they did it quite well in the second half. Them going to 10 men sometimes makes it harder because they then sit in. We had that against Slough on Boxing Day and it’s nice to turn it around and beat a team with 10 men.

“Second half we were well worth the three goals and the three points, but we need to perform better than we did in the first half. Because first half, against a stronger side, that’s not going to be good enough. We need to be better.”

He added: “It was a difficult pitch, there wasn’t a lot of bounce in it and when you’re trying to get it out of your feet and deliver quality, it’s difficult.

The Magpies had let a similarly advantageous situation slip against 10 men in their dreadful 3-1 defeat to local rivals Slough Town on Boxing Day, but they weren’t about to let this opportunity get away from them.

“Once it’s happened everyone starts to think about it,” said O’Brien. “And we referenced it in there.

“We said we’re not going to do what we did against Slough. We told them we needed to be on the front foot, to attack the ball and get runners and more players up the pitch.

“We changed shape straight away as soon as the red card came, and that’s something we looked at after the Slough game. I think that worked well for us and I’m delighted for Sammy Barratt to come on and get two goals. I thought it was a worthy performance and three points but now we forget about that.

“Next week we have Chesham away and we need to keep putting these runs together. Chesham are no mugs; it’s not going to be easy next week.”

The result lifts the Magpies to ninth, now just three points off the top seven ahead of a tough trip to The Meadow to play Chesham United on Saturday.