Havant & Waterlooville coach Walton: Oxford City win should act as a wake-up call

Efforts either side of half time from Sam Magri - his second in as many matches and his third in five NLS starts - and Tommy Wright wrapped up a 2-1 turnaround win over Oxford City at Westleigh Park.

Just as they did in the 3-1 triumph over Dulwich Hamlet in midweek, the Hawks had to come from behind to secure the three points, though.

Harvey Bradbury - son of former Hawks boss and Pompey striker Lee - had headed the visitors ahead inside 11 minutes.

The hosts were second best all over the pitch in a lacklustre first half as Oxford - on the back of dumping League One Northampton out of the FA Cup last Monday - seemed to bring the momentum from such a big victory down the A34 with them.

But it would be Magri's leveller a minute before the break that would prove a critical moment in the outcome of the contest.

Coach Walton, taking charge along with assistant manager Ian Baird in the absence of unwell boss Paul Doswell, stressed the hosts' first-half showing was 'nowhere near the standards expected.'

Although relieved the players produced after some 'strong words' at the break, the former Leeds midfielder admitted the Hawks can ill-afford to perform as they did in the opening 45 minutes if they are to be successful this season.

Walton said: 'I thought on our second half performance we probably just edged the three points.

'But at half time we were very lucky and, as the old saying goes, I think we got away with one there!

‘I’ll be honest, the players weren’t allowed to say too much when we first went in (at half time).

‘They knew, I’m pretty sure they’re all intelligent enough to know that the first half was nowhere near the standards we expect, so we let them know that in no uncertain terms.

‘Again, the reaction was brilliant. But as I’ve said, we can’t be a team that reacts, we’ve got to be a team that acts.

‘If it takes what happened at half-time to get us playing every week then we won’t be very successful.

‘Hopefully that will be a little wake-up call.

‘We got away with one but we can’t afford another 45 minutes like the first half because it was nowhere near our standards expected in any aspect of play whether that be with the ball or without the ball.'

Walton was wary of being overly critical of the team after coming away with a third victory in five league games this season.

He credited the character shown to battle back from a goal behind to clinch a win for the second successive fixture.

But Walton insisted the reaction and performance shown in the second half is what is expected from such a strong squad.

'They didn’t have a choice (taking the half-time words on board),' said the Hawks coach.

‘I’m not going to be too negative, we’ve won the game.

‘Second half is the reaction is what we expect, it’s not more than what we expect - that is what we expect as a given any week, any game.

'The desire, work rate and bravery with and without the ball should be our minimum standard going into any game.

‘We dropped well below that in the first half.'