Gary Meakin likened Kettering Town’s pitch to concrete after Beaconsfield SYCOB were made to play on a surface which he believes was frozen over.

The Becky boss felt Town were desperate to get Tuesday night’s game played having not had a fixture for three weeks but refused to use it as an excuse for his side’s 2-1 defeat.

Even before arriving at Latimer Park the visitors’ preparations were thrown into disarray with closures on the M1 meaning they arrived at the ground just as the match was due to kick-off.

Meakin was unhappy with the decision to play the game due to the rock solid surface.

He said: “Once we were there it was just a case of just get on with it and play, but we should never have been made to travel. We didn’t get there until 7:45pm because the M1 was shut, so we got there five minutes before kick-off.

“If we were there earlier we’d have tried to get it on. They forced the game to be played because they haven’t played in ages. The game should never have been played.

“I’ve played on softer playgrounds. That’s not sour grapes that’s just how it was. Once we were there it was the right decision to get through it, but we should never have been made to travel.”

Better news for Meakin came four days earlier on Saturday as a Victor Osubu strike handed him the first win of his second spell in charge of the club as they shocked play-off chasers Hanwell Town at Holloways Park.

The striker netted the only goal of the game after 50 minutes to secure the three points for SYCOB, and Meakin believes the players’ hard work and that of his predecessor have enabled him to get results.

He said: “It’s a monkey off the back. The lads that are here are a credit to Andy Hurley and Nas Bashir. They’ve worked tremendously hard, they’ve got a great attitude and the ability was there.

“We’ve come in and maybe just stole their thunder a bit because the work behind the scenes was going on it just wasn’t happening there and then.

“Hopefully wins will start to come now. The only defeats we’ve had are Rugby and Kettering away so it’s not too bad.”

Meakin has so far overseen two draws, two defeats and one win since returning to the Reds’ dugout, and the manager knows his team must pick up wins in their next few games to improve upon their position of third bottom in Division One Central.

“We’ve got Leighton, North Greenford and St Ives as our next three games so we should be targeting some points in those games.

“There’s no point playing like we have against Rugby, Hanwell and Kettering if we don’t continue that against those three sides. If we play like we have been doing we should pick up some points.”

Becky are away to the side directly above them, Leighton Town, tomorrow with a victory enough for them to leapfrog their opponents.