FRUSTRATED Magpies’ chief Mark Jermyn was left to ponder how his side took until second-half stoppage time to convert one of a numerous amount of chances against Slough Town – but by then it was too little too late.

A late strike from Matt Oldring proved just a consolation for the hosts at the Avenue in their 2-1 defeat on Saturday, as a first-half double from Slough’s Edward Smith and Nathan Webb, the first of which came from the penalty spot, proved decisive.

“We should have got a better result when we look back on it. We had more opportunities to score than in any other game so far this season,” Jermyn, whose side were left with just 10 men after Charlie Davis was sent off, told Echosport.

“I last clocked it at around 12 to 14 good opportunities, so it’s very frustrating from my point of view that we only scored one goal.

“Hopefully people that were there could see how many opportunities we had to get a result. That only stacks up so far unfortunately.

“In the second half you are always going to come out and try and take the game to the opposition and I do feel that we did that.

“But at 2-0 it’s always hard because the longer you leave it the less opportunities you have left.”

The Avenue boss was also disappointed by both the manner and the timing of the Rebels’ second goal, conceding from a corner right on the stroke of half-time.

“In my mind we were very naïve by the way we defended that corner, we did not give ourselves a chance,” he added.

“If you are not going to pick markers up when you are defending a corner then you are going to give people a free opportunity to score.

“When we talk about defending corners and stuff like that, we go through it, they are not things that are forgotten about.

“Before each game we make sure that everybody knows what their jobs and responsibilities are but, unfortunately, you can’t kick and head balls for people.

“You have to rely on the players you have got to go out and do a job and, unfortunately, they didn’t do it on Saturday, but in previous weeks and months they have done.

“We can’t keep conceding from corners the way that we have.”

Speaking about the straight red card shown to Davis, who had also already been booked by referee Adam Matthews, Jermyn added: “In this day and age in football you can’t leave the ground and, certainly from where we were, it looked like a crunching challenge.

“Him going off, I can’t really argue with that. He was booked.

“I will defend my players as much as I can but, unfortunately, on this occasion I can’t.”

The reverse means the county town side sit ninth in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division, six points off the play-off places.