IT TOOK 210 minutes of football to separate Merstham and Chipstead but Hayden Bird believes the FA Cup tie could have been decided much sooner – had the Moatsiders taken their chances.
The Surrey sides drew 2-2 on Saturday, forcing a Tuesday night replay. However, after 90 minutes of the midweek game, the pair were still inseparable at 2-2 again, but finally after another 30 minutes of extra-time Merstham finished 4-3 victors.
But Moatsiders boss Bird believes his team could have saved themselves some tired legs if they have been more ruthless in front of goal.
"It was virtually a last-minute winner that decided the tie but I think if you analyse the game, it shouldn't have been like that," Bird said after Tuesday's replay.
"They had three goals. The first goal was a defensive mistake, we switched off after a set-piece, but to be fair they took it well.
"Their second goal was a well-taken goal but in my view it was a very bad mistake from the referee. There was a clear infringement. And the third goal was a mistake from the centre-halves.
"In the meantime, I think that Merstham squandered a minimum of ten really good chances. If the chances go in, even if three or four go in, it isn't close. Because we kept missing chances, starting in the very first minute with a penalty, the game was on a bit of a knife edge.
"If you look at Saturday in the second half, but definitely against Hastings and Folkestone, those games are great examples of when we should be finishing teams off by half-time. We are missing really good opportunities so the games are becoming more difficult than they ought to be. And that happened again here; the game could have been finished in 20 minutes, but it wasn't."
However, Bird was pleased to see the entertaining derby encounter was played in the right spirit.
"I thought both teams played the game with a great spirit, worked really hard and thankfully we came through in the end," he said. "I think it was a terrific advert for non-league football and I think that both clubs should be proud of their teams because they fought really hard and played the game in the right spirit."
