United’s fifteenth clean sheet of the season helped to extend their current run to five unbeaten, and it was a shut-out that was built on a policy of ‘no risks’ that brought an extremely solid front-to-back display.
“It was all about no risks,” manager Paul Simpson confirmed. “The pitch had a bit of zip about it, a lovely place for playing football, and we just didn't use it as well as we could have done, but it was about no risks.
“Stevenage put you under so much pressure to make mistakes, whether that be a mistake with a challenge and they're able to load the box, whether it be a mistake putting it out for a throw in round the 18 and Smith comes up and launches it in.
“I thought we defended really, really clean for 99% of the time. I thought we defended the set plays really, really well for 100% of the time. Tomas came when he was needed.
“The lads had to make blocks, they had to show strength and put their head on things, they cleared their lines and there were no mistakes. We kept it really clean. As a team we looked after our final third really well, but as a team we didn’t attack particularly well.
“You’re waiting for that one moment to come, but you’re also hoping that nothing goes against you. They had a lot of balls into the box and they did cause some problems.
“They’re a good side, they’re not second in the table by fluke. After 35 games they deserve to be there on merit because of the way they go about it. We stood up to the challenge of it, but we’ve maybe just got to be a little bit better the next time.”
On the current run, he added: “I think the players have reacted really well after going three games without a win or a goal.
“So again, credit to them. And now we've just got to dig in and stick together. We're now down to 10 games and we've got to hope that we can keep going.
“It is difficult because they're human beings, so it's not easy, but we've just got to keep going. We have to keep doing the things that we've been doing. We're asking for a level of consistency.
“We're now four wins and a draw on this little run. We have to keep it going and if we can go to Bradford and do the things that we think we do well, then we could make a real game of it. I also know that they're a good side and it's going to be a tough game.”
The clean sheet at one end just needed that one moment we keep talking about at the other.
“I’m not even sure it was the final pass all the time that let us down, sometimes it was the pass before the final pass,” he explained.
“We didn't quite execute it very well. We just seemed a little bit hurried and again, we might have to give them credit for the way they pressed and the way they've got about us, we got into some good areas and good opportunities and we're hitting the first man with crosses, we're hitting it out of play.
“We're making wrong decisions from set plays. It was all of those things and I can't criticise our players because I think they've been magnificent, and we just want them to keep going and be a little bit better.
“It’s those little decisions, the execution of those moments that we didn’t do particularly well. I will say it again though, I’m still happy with a point. We haven’t lost, we’ve kept the unbeaten run going and we’ve kept ourselves up there.”
“Part of that is dealing with everything that comes at you in a game,” he added. “I told them not to get involved in the whole circus that goes around it. I told them to keep our discipline and our composure, do the same things we’d done, but be even better.
“I wanted us to take care of the ball more, and I thought we had some little spells where we got a bit of a foothold in the game. We weren’t quite there with our decision making, when it came to whether or not it was a simple pass or a threaded ball, or what to do with a cross or a free kick.
“We made, not wrong decisions, but there were definitely times when we could have done it better. And of course there are the decisions from the officials that could have made a difference.
“The incident with Hunts, I've seen the video. I watched it at the time and you think, well, maybe Hunts has done something back to him, and they always say they're both at it.
“Paul Huntington did absolutely nothing wrong in that situation. They're wanting Morgan Feeney sent off because they said he head butted Piergianni - Piergianni has kneed him in the back of the head as he's fallen to the ground, not saying it was on purpose, kneed him in the back of the head, and Morgs has shoved him. There's no head butt.
“They’re claiming Jon Mellish stamps on somebody over in the far corner. There's no stamp. It's all histrionics. And trying to get people in trouble.
“And I thought we kept our discipline really well and unfortunately the referee didn't make two really big calls. That said I don’t think he had a bad game, but they’re big calls that you have to make.”
