A chat with Budleigh Salterton manager Dan Carthew following his side’s 4-1 defeat at Alphington in their latest Scott Richards Solicitors Devon League fixture.

We caught up with Budleigh Salterton manager Dan Carthew for a chat following the Robin’s latest outing, Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at Alphington.

The game means that the Robins have now played one third of their matches for the 20/21 league campaign.

It was a match that saw a first half of well contested football with Budleigh taking an early second half lead and holding it until the hour mark when three goals in five minutes swung the game the way of the home side who added a fourth late on.

First up we asked the Robins’ boss for his general thoughts on the game.

He replied, saying: “Our first half performance was very Promising, we looked good in possession, but lacked the cutting edge in attack.

“Out of possession we were a lot more organised and the back four together with the goalkeeper had maybe one or two moments to deal with which they did – so all in all, spirits were high at half time.”

He continued: “We began the second half on the front foot and the pressure we were applying saw us rewarded with a well taken goal from Rian Hill - after that things became very disjointed for 10 minutes and we paid the price!”

Next up we asked what, if any, were the positives he could take from the game.

He responded saying: “The positives were the first half performance and the goal.

“However, the slip side of that for me, and certainly the bit to look at is the spell in the second half when we fell off the pace and became disjointed – the challenge for me is addressing that and putting it right quickly.”

In terms of individual performances at Alphington, the Robins’ boss said: “For me, our Player of the Match has to be Jake Chudley, but I’d also like to mention Sam Hollis who was excellent at both full back and then centre midfield while Ryan Daffin was a constant threat to them [Alphington], throughout the game.”

Last, but not least, we asked the Budleigh boss about any injury news looking ahead to Saturday’s game at home to Liverton United (2.15pm).

He replied saying: “We had a couple of injuries in the game and the nett result of that is that Si Withers will miss a couple of games, but Sam Hollis, who also limped off, will hopefully be OK for the Liverton game.

“Liam O’Brien is the only other player out currently and we are waiting to see if he is available for the weekend.”