Boston United manager Paul Hurst got exactly what he wanted from last night's National League Cup home clash with Birmingham City's youngsters, apart from the result in a 3-2 defeat.
What happened?
The Pilgrims were 2-0 up but, after making a raft of changes, conceded three times in the last 20 minutes to the young Blues of City's PL2 side in the Group D opener in front of 425 fans. Boston United are currently 10th in the National League with 3 points, having scored 2 goals and conceded 1, and are 3 points behind leaders Harrogate Town.
Why it matters for Boston United
“I was happy at 2-0 up and I always want to win a game. But that was secondary to keeping players healthy,” said Hurst. The bigger picture was all about giving players minutes who needed them and only giving players like Gavan Holohan the minutes required and not pushing him beyond where he's at, looking towards the weekend.
What comes next?
Hurst will be without Gibraltan international Nicholas Pozo, who has concussion following a head injury in the 2-0 win at Solihull Moors on Saturday, and will miss the next 21 days. Boston United host an Altrincham side without a win in their opening two games on Saturday, and Hurst warned: “I know they haven't had the results yet, but Altrincham are a good team, they were winning in their opening game against Southend but fell behind after a mistake, and on Saturday against Sutton they dominated a lot of the game but came out on the wrong side of the result.” Their next fixture after that will be vs FC Halifax Town at home on 2027-02-16, who are currently 20th in the table.
