Torquay United head coach Gary Owers says his players lost their confidence as they suffered another home defeat on Saturday afternoon.
The Gulls fell to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of Bromley despite only going into the half-time break a goal behind.
United were unable to take advantage after an improved performance in the first 45 minutes, with goals coming from Louis Dennis, Adam Mekki, Luke Wanadio and Josh Rees.
“It was a poor second-half display,” said the Torquay United head coach. “A tight first half, the lads were ok just couldn’t hang on until half time.
“We’ve conceded a goal that was possibly handball but there we are. Felt that we could come out in the second half and have a go and it didn’t happen.
“They’ve done alright. It’s two weeks in a row. The second half as the gave developed and the goals went in, players lost their confidence and that didn’t help.
“They lost their shape a little bit and obviously suffered. They’re having a go. I said to them at half time, I felt we were still in the game and I didn’t think that 45 minutes later I’d be stood there on the end of a 4-0 defeat.”
One Torquay United player who stood out during the defeat was midfielder Luke Young and Owers reserved praise for the 24-year-old.
“He’s been fantastic Youngy. Full credit to him, he kept going. He’s an experienced player now. There’s a lot of young players, maybe they suffered a little bit because of the atmosphere around the ground.”
There was a debut for new loan signing Elliot Romain, who joined the club earlier this week from Dagenham & Redbridge. The striker was unable to find the back of the net but performed admirably in difficult conditions.
“I thought Elliot Romain, for his first game, was excellent. That was a big plus and he certainly looked like something closer to what we’re looking for.”
Reflecting on the goals conceded, Owers says he wants his players to learn from their mistakes and wipe the slate clean in the coming week.
“They’re errors. We stand and we watch. Everyone is telling us what we should be doing and how we’re useless and don’t know anything. That hurts.
“We’ve both been in football over 30 years, we know a lot and individual errors, basic errors that players have to learn by. They will all have better days. Today’s not a good day, I feel dreadful. We’ve just got to come in on Monday and start again.”