Tadcaster boss Paul Marshall says his team will get beat in the FA Vase quarter-finals if they play like they have been doing
Play like you have been doing and you’ll get beat.
That’s the message from Paul Marshall as Tadcaster Albion prepare for the biggest game in their history.
Over 1000 fans are expected to descend on the i2i Stadium for the FA Vase quarter-finals replay with Highworth Town tomorrow – a few days after the 2-1 defeat to Thackley.
Toolstation NCEL Premier Division leaders Tadcaster have been scraping wins and draws recently, but their luck finally ran out to Thackley.
Marshall, who was visibly angry in midweek over the defeat, insists his side will go out of the competition if they play like they did against Thackley.
“If we play like that, we won’t overturn anybody, not even a Sunday morning team,” said Marshall, whose side drew 1-1 with Highworth last week.
“It is going to be a massive game for the club and as a group in the dressing room we have to step up back to the plate to show the people of Tadcaster and Yorkshire that we are a good team.
“Highworth have some very good and dangerous players. If we don’t perform, we’ll get beat.
“The rules are simple. If they want to win the game more than us, they will beat us. If we want to win the game more than them, we’ll win the game.”
Tadcaster were running away with the league in the first half of the season.
But, since the turn of the year, Tadcaster’s performance levels have dropped and they have lost two league matches and scraped late goals to draw or win a number of other games.
Marshall said: “We discussed it after the game (why performance levels have dropped recently).
“Eight or nine players are new to the club. One of them said ‘have never been in a position like this before where the pressure is getting to people’?
“I have and I’ve won leagues and we were second last year so we were battling for it.
“It is difficult bringing new lads in and I’ve asked them to go back to where they were at the start of the season.
“I think a lot of players aren’t performing to the levels they were at the start of the season.
“One big loss is Jono (Jonathan Greening) because he was dictating a lot of the passages of play when we were doing extremely well.
“We did well before Jono came and we thought we would be able to carry on without him, but you must admit when you lose a Premier League player it does make a difference.
“The defeat has been coming because we have scraping and fighting to get results.”
A positive for Tadcaster is the return of left-back Paddy Miller, who returns from suspension.
Albion had permission to postpone the game with Thackley as the league had permitted club’s in the Vase quarter-finals to have a free midweek.
Marshall added:”That is why we put the game against Thackley on to get Paddy’s suspension finished.
“We wanted to get Paddy back as he is one of our best players. He has given us natural balance all season.”