Newmarket Town manager Michael Shinn staying ‘upbeat’ and ‘positive’ after dropped points against Brightlingsea Regent and Tilbury

He may have seen his Newmarket Town side throw away five points within the space of 72 hours, but manager Michael Shinn is determined to take the positives.

On Saturday the Jockeys were 3-1 up at Brightlingsea Regent with 16 minutes remaining, only to ship three goals – including two in stoppage time – to lose 4-3.

And that was followed on Tuesday evening by a 3-3 home draw with Tilbury – a game that had seen Shinn’s side open up a three-goal advantage before being pegged back by a visiting side that played much of the second half with 10 men following the dismissal of Jack Hayes.

Those dropped points would have seen Newmarket sitting in and around mid-table in the Pitching In Isthmian League North Division, but instead they find themselves third from bottom after eight matches.

Nevertheless, Shinn has largely been pleased with the performances as the club continues to adapt to life at Step 4.

Speaking following the conclusion of the fiery clash with Tilbury which saw Newmarket midfielder Efraim Romanos red carded after the final whistle, Shinn said: “When you’re on the back of what happened Saturday and the other team score to make it 3-1 and then 3-2, it’s always in the back of your mind and it’s difficult to be calm in the game when you’re up against it.

“I think there was a little bit of thinking that we were home and dry when they went down to 10 men – that’s the problem and it was the same at the weekend. We thought we’d won the game and we hadn’t.

“But coming into the game it was important that we got a result. Performance levels have been great and we’ve been creating lots of chances – so it’s important to take the positives.

“If you’d offered us a point before the start of the game we’d have taken that.

“It’s difficult to get that across to the players because of what happened, but Tilbury are a good side on a good run. They play on the front foot and they’re aggressive, but for large periods we stood up to it.

“If we weren’t playing well and we weren’t creating chances then I’d be really concerned, but I’m not. We do concede too many (goals) and we’ve tried to change the system slightly.

“We need to tighten things up obviously, but I don’t want to bank up and be ugly – that’s not in my nature.

“I think a lot of it is concentration and voices within the group keeping everyone active.

“There’s some good signs and I want to keep upbeat because in the main our performances have been good – and we’ve had some really difficult fixtures as well.”

Newmarket will have home advantage on Saturday when they welcome league-leading Basildon United to the Tristel Stadium (3pm). Midfielder Ally Conway will miss the clash due to suspension, while defender Jake Eady is also unavailable.

Striker showing goal-den touch

One big positive for Shinn has been the recent form of Josh Lee.

The striker, who was Newmarket’s leading goalscorer on their way to promotion last term, has scored four times in the last two fixtures.

After a slow start to the campaign the forward has now found the net on eight occasions – and Shinn never doubted his ability to step up.

“I never had any concerns about Josh. He picked up a couple of knocks at the start of the season and I was bringing him on to make an impact,” he added.

“I knew he’d come good. It wasn’t a case of me leaving him out because I didn’t think he’d score goals – I was looking after him and trying to get his fitness levels up.

“As luck would have it he scored a couple of goals off the bench and that got his confidence up.

“He’s a real handful and we’re lucky to have him. He’s having a decent run of form and hopefully that continues.”

Spiers and Docking on target in home win

Newmarket Town chalked up their second Eastern Region Women's Football League Division One North win of the season thanks to Sunday’s 2-1 home victory over AFC Dunstable.

The hosting Jockeys broke the deadlock when Katie Spiers latched on to a long forward pass and then lifted her shot over the visiting goalkeeper.

A free kick from Dunstable’s Gemma Whitchurch restored parity heading into half-time, but Newmarket claimed all three points thanks to Millie Docking’s volley.

The Cambridge United loanee has now found the back of the net on seven occasions in all competitions for Newmarket, with five of those goals being scored in the league.

Eighth-placed Newmarket will head down the A11 to lock horns with Thetford Town (7th) on Sunday (2pm).