That's what Adam Hinshelwood said after York City were forced to take a point from newcomers Tamworth with a last-minute equaliser.
The Minstermen were hoping to complete a double against the Rams with a 2-0 comeback win at the LNER Community Stadium in August, but when in-form striker Ollie Pearce was sacked from the side. , took the lead after 15 minutes when Staffordshire looked poised to do just that.
However, chances came and went for City after that, and Jordan Cullinane-Rivard finally headed home a long throw from Tom Tonks to equalize for Tamworth just before the end of regular time and seal the spoils. He was punished for not finishing the match. Shared.
For many, this result feels like a two-point loss, but Hinshelwood stressed that anything can happen in the fifth tier.
In an interview with BBC Radio York, he said:
“It's very close, it's very close, right?'' But that's the National League.
“They won a throw-in but it was a handball by an opposition player and then it came into the box and we didn’t deal with it. This is the only time we didn’t deal with it. is.
“As soon as we got out of his arms, for the first time we looked a little bit frozen, the goalkeeper looked transfixed, Callum Howe looked transfixed.
“It's unfortunate for us, but it's the National League and we can't take any chances even if we have an advantage.
“I thought we put the ball in some unbelievable areas today. Marv (Armstrong) had a shot from 18 yards that didn’t go on target, Dipo (Akinyemi) broke through one-on-one and Luka (Thomas) scored one point at the end.”
“We came here to a really tough place away from home and I think we performed well in so many areas, but we were penalized once for not responding well to long throws.
“But that’s what this league is about in a nutshell, isn’t it?”
However, I couldn't find the last skill in the important scene that was the theme of the afternoon.
“They had one chance in the second half and we had five or six,” Hinshelwood explained.
“If you look at the game as a whole and look at the chances created, I think we created more chances than them away.
“The first goal was an unbelievable goal and we put the ball into the final third really well.
“The final detail was there was a couple of passes and Joe (Felix) got the ball and slid Tye (Sinclair) to go over hit. And then when it really mattered, the final The details were not enough for us” sometimes.
“Overall, I think we played well and had full control of the game for a large part.
“But it’s the National League, you can’t deal with one long throw and it goes in the back of the net and you don’t always get the result you want.
“That's the harsh reality of the National League and of football. There are no shortcuts, you just have to do it for 90 minutes every Saturday through Tuesday, and it's relentlessly demanding.”
The draw ended a run of three consecutive away defeats in all competitions, but York have picked up 11 fewer points away from home than in the same number of games at the fortress LNER.
Hinshelwood admitted his side were unlucky at Tamworth, with his calls for more intensity from the game against North Yorkshire paying off.
“It doesn't matter if they have long throws or not, that's football, especially when you're away from home,” he continued.
“We've been disappointed in quite a bit with our away form in the last few weeks this season, but I think we played really well and were even with them on that front. Can't praise it enough.
“That one moment probably required a bit of luck and the referee and linesman to be there to witness the blatant handball, but it didn't quite happen and it would have been penalized.”
