Hucknall Town boss Andy Graves has no complaints over defeat to Barrow Town

Hucknall Town manager Andy Graves felt his side deserved to be beaten.

The Riversiders scored three goals in the final quarter of the game to deny Hucknall a third straight United Counties League Division One victory, after restricting the Yellows to few clear-cut opportunities.

It means Hucknall Town missed the chance to leapfrog play-off chasing rivals Aylestone Park.

And the Town manager felt his below-par side could have few complaints at the result.

“I think we got what we deserved tonight,” the boss said. “We went out with the wrong attitude. I told them before they headed out, ‘if you take this game lightly, it’ll come back to bite you’, and it did.

“I thought we were poor and all of the goals were preventable. It’s probably the poorest we’ve played all season.

“I thought their centre-half was outstanding to be honest; he dealt with everything and kept Westy [Westcarr] quiet, which is something that not many defenders have managed to do this year.

“I just didn’t think our work rate was there. There are still ten games to go, so in theory there’s still a long way to go, but there’s no room for any mess-ups now.”

Barrow were fairly solid defensively throughout the night but also carried a threat on the counter-attack, with Aboo Bakr Younis and Andrei Raceala each sending efforts narrowly wide of the target in the first period.

Arguably Hucknall’s best chance of the first half fell to Craig Westcarr in the 27th minute, but their top scorer scooped the ball over the crossbar. Grant Ryan also went close with a shot from range which almost snuck inside the bottom corner.

The Yellows’ best spell in the game came shortly after the break, with skipper Aaron Short nodding narrowly over the bar and Joe Ashurst having a shot saved.

Hucknall paid the price for missing those chances, as the visitors secured all three points with a trio of late goals. The first arrived in the 77th minute, when a mix-up between Oliver Brown and Keaton Sharpe allowed Christopher Larter to roll the ball into an empty net.

Harris Saunders headed home three minutes from time, before Jordan Holmes added another.