Shaw angered by poor display

Tigers lost the game 3-2 after being 2-0 down at half-time and battling back to level, only for a late winner to deny them a point.

And although Shaw was happier with how his side approached the second-half, he felt the damage had already been done.

He said: “It was a very poor first-half and I was particularly disappointed with the application of the players. It was one of the worst performances I’ve experienced as a manager at this level.

“Hemsworth deserved their lead at the break but at half-time we made some changes and I wanted us to bombard their 18-yard box in the second-half.

“In fairness, we’ve done well to battle back and get level, but then we’ve lost it at the end.”

Whilst unhappy with his players, Shaw also felt the referee had a poor game.

He added: “I think the ref has made two bad decisions. First I thought we were quite lucky to be given a penalty because Mark Fereday and the defender more or less went shoulder to shoulder and I thought it was quite a harsh decision.

“However, I thought the fact he then sent Ross Henshaw off when the score was 2-2 was also very poor.

“In my opinion Ross hasn’t gone in high and it wasn’t a reckless challenge.”

Despite Shaw’s unhappiness at the officiating, he’s been left in no doubt where his side needs to improve if their inconsistent form is to take an upward turn.

He said: “Our game management has really got to improve.

“The Handsworth game was a good example of where we got it right, in that at 1-0 up we saw the game out effectively and got the three points.

“We worked hard for it and you have to do that sometimes. We can’t keep gifting teams leads and having to then do things the hard way if we want anything out of the game.

“When you see the points we could have won it’s incredibly frustrating that we’re being so inconsistent.

“At the moment, it doesn’t matter whether we’re playing at home or away because the problem seems to be the same everywhere. We really need to start getting some positive momentum together rather than being so patchy.”

Three away games in a row now follow as Tigers head to Liversedge on Saturday, Harrogate Railway Athletic next Tuesday night and then Cleepthorpes on September24 in a rearranged fixture.

Shaw, who said he hopes to have some new faces signed up ahead of the trip to Liversedge on Saturday. added: “Whoever we play we’ve got to win games.

“If we want to be up there challenging for the title then things have to improve.”