TWO first-half goals from midfielder Adam Trotter got Jersey Bulls back to winning ways at Springfield.
Manager Gary Freeman altered the shape of his side, playing with three centre-backs, and it paid off in the comfortable 2-0 victory over Guildford City, their first since defeating promotion rivals Knaphill four games previously.
There was noticeably more width, while striker Lorne Bickley was grateful for better support from deep, with Trotter impressing with a man-of-the-match display.
“It should have been a little more comfortable; 2-0 is always is a little dangerous and they’ve hit the post at the start the second half,” said Freeman.
“We should have been, really, with the way we played in the first half.
“I thought it was probably one of our best in-possession performances for a little while and we should have gone in with four or five on the board, but we’ve missed chances.
“We got a little disjointed in the second half of the show.
“We tried a new shape that we only really started working on training this week. But I saw enough in the first half that it can give us something slightly different in games.
“With three at the back and Fergus [Boyle] touching one side and Francis [Lekimamti] the other, the idea was to pull them out and ask Adam [Trotter] and Miguel [Carvalho] to find little pockets.
“I thought between Adam, Miguel, backed up by Jonny [Le Quesne] and Luke [Watson] there was good rotation and their midfield three struggled with it.
“We got exactly what we hoped we’d get from it. We’ll keep working on it because I think it does give us a good option, particularly home games.”
The win maintained Bulls’ place in third spot in the Combined Counties Premier Division South table, and in one of the four play-off spots for promotion, with ten games remaining.
Match report in today’s JEP (page 70)
