Boss frustrated the Reigate side don't put away more of their chances

Finishing their chances will the difference between whether South Park are title contenders this season or not, admits manager Josh Gallagher.

The former Raynes Park Vale and Chertsey Town manager took the reins at the Reigate club in early September with the Sparks in the bottom half of the Isthmian League South East Division table at the time.

Since then, and despite Gallagher making very few changes to the squad, Park have risen to the upper echelons of the table, including a spell where they went top of the division – the first time teh club had ever been top of Step 4.

But after three consecutive draws, 0-0 against Deal Town last week followed by a 2-2 draw with Punjab United on Saturday and a 1-1 draw at Ashford United on Tuesday night, Gallagher was feeling disgruntled.

“I’m very frustrating,” he admitted. “We’ve performed really well in the past two games against Punjab and Ashford.

“I felt that we dominated those game, definitely against Punjab we dominated large periods of the game and created a number of chances. Their goalkeeper probably got man of the match in that game.

“With the chances that we created, I’m really frustrated that we couldn’t win that one. It was probably the first time I felt that we’ve dropped two points.

“The Ashford game was slightly different. I felt we dominated large parts of it, but not as much. That’s because the pitch was so big.

“I’ve never seen a pitch play such a big part in terms of the size. Like, it is massive. The gaps between the defence to midfield to attack was the biggest I’ve ever seen. I still can’t believe it.

"Having a pitch that size, makes it so hard to control a game for large periods because you could be attacking, and then just like that, if the ball’s cleared into the wrong area, or the right area for the opposition, the game switches. It was wild. Although it leads to quite an entertaining and open game.

“I felt we’d control as much as we needed to. They didn’t really have a chance up until they scored, which was the 75th minute. And even then, we looked like the only team that might win it.”

Forwards Finlay Johnson, Alex Body and George Vincent have all been contributing goals regularly since Gallagher took the reins, but they and new signing, Jordan Gallagher, have been guilty of missing good chances in the past few games.

And the South Park boss wants to see the Sparks forwards be more ruthless in front of goal.

“I felt that we had full control in both games and unfortunately had really good chances that we missed,” the Sparks boss said. “So it’s completely on us. The overall performance has been really good and I’ve been really happy with the boys and how they’ve done, their effort, their work rate, their readiness to take on information has been superb, but it’s just putting the ball in the net is the issue. It’s something that we’re working on.”

And Gallagher believes the Whitehall Lane outfit’s finishing could be the difference between success and mediocrity this season.

“We look at it as two games that we could have quite comfortably have won,” the 33-year-old said. “And if we had won those, that would have put us top of the table. That’s the frustrating thing. There were opportunities that we feel we should be taking.

“And when you look at the fixtures coming up, they don’t get any easier.

“We are away to Sittingbourne on Saturday and I know they are a sort of wounded animal at the moment, but we know they’re a good side, and they’ve got quality.

“We’ve got AFC Croydon Athletic at home the following weekend and they’ve got a massive budget and good players.

“Then we have Herne Bay and with their players they should be higher than what they are. They all know that. That’s a compliment, by the way. That’s not a dig.

“And then we have Erith Town at the start of December and in my opinion, they are the best team we’ve played so far this season.

“It doesn’t get any easier, but at the same time, it’s in our hands – it’s down to us. We need to make sure we stick together, work hard, and get ourselves in a position where we’re finishing those chances.

“If we do that, we know what we can achieve.”