In a hurry to catch the train back south, Garry Hill was uncharacteristically shorter on words than usual after Fleet’s 1-1 draw at Gateshead. The Fleet boss accepted his side should perhaps have won the game but he wasn’t overly upset with a “good point” in a month that he believes will stretch the nerves of all supporters.
“We got a point nearer Eastleigh and it’s going to go close to the wire, we all know that,” said Hill. “It should have been three points. We were poor the first 20 minutes, we didn’t get going and were fortunate to be only 1-0 down. But after the first 20 minutes, I thought we settled down and had two or three very good chances in the first-half to equalise and we were a little disappointed to come in 1-0 down.”
Fleet got the equaliser they deserved in the second half and Hill felt his side were on top after the break.
“The second half, things started brighter and without doubt it was all one-way. We had plenty of chances. It’s a bit frustrating but it’s a very good point up here. The number-one thing is you don’t get beat at this time of the season away from home. We got a good draw and we’ll roll on again.
“But it’s not a missed opportunity. When you come away from home against a team still challenging, they could have gone level with us today so we’ve kept the distance there, we’ve a better goal difference than them. But we’ve got our own job to do, we’ll do that and see where we go. We’ll keep that momentum going, we’ve got a big game at home against Dagenham and try and take another three points.”
Two moments of controversy punctuated the match, with Chris Bush’s disallowed goal seemingly having hit a home player on its way to the Fleet defender while Gateshead’s Jack Hunter was fortunate not to gain a second yellow card for two fouls on Ebou Adams inside five minutes.
“All I’ll turn around and say about that one is I’ve seen them get sent off for that in the past,” said Hill.
