CARL Davies admitted Bracknell Town were well below their best when beating Hertford 2-0 at Larges Lane on Saturday, writes Dave Wright.

But as he said: “It’s refreshing to know we can scrape out a win rather than totally dominating for 90 minutes, so that is one pleasing side of it. We also kept a clean sheet which was good.”

The Robins scored through Ash Artwell, his first goal for the club, in the 41st minute, but it was not until time added on at the end of the match when substitute Gavin James sealed all three points.

“We were nowhere near our best, We were mainly in only third or fourth gear, but thankfully we got away with it on this occasion,” added the player-manager.

It could be argued Town were still feeling the effects of their tough FA Trophy replay at Bognor Regis last Tuesday which went to extra time and then penalties before they succumbed to a 3-2 defeat.

But Davies said: “It would be easy to say yes (to being tired), but I think I was the oldest player out there, so I was alright, but then I probably don’t run as much as the likes of some others.

“Tiredness should not be an excuse for how we played. We seemed to panic a bit and played the long ball a few more times than we usually do.

“We are close to the top of the league, so teams are going to come here with a plan and for Hertford, it worked for long periods of the game. They had a lot of men behind the ball, playing a 4-5-1, so we had to be patient and we still had quite a few chances to score.”

Robins were missing their regular full-backs, Dave Hancock and Ryan Parsons, both nursing hamstring problems, but they could return for the trip to Chalfont St Peter this Saturday (3pm).

Bracknell will be without Liam Ferdinand as he is with an England representative squad on a visit to the Falkland Islands, where they will be playing two matches this weekend, against the national team and the British Forces South Atlantic Islands. Chalfont midfielder Alex Paine is also in the squad, for which Bracknell’s Joe Grant was among the reserves.