Stevenage manager Gary Smith spoke to BBC Three Counties Radio after his side's League One opening day 1-1 draw at home to Carlisle, Smith saying he thought that Boro's 88th minute equaliser was just desserts for their second-half performance:
"I thought it was just desserts, we started a little bit sloppily and gave I thought Carlisle an incentive to be aggressive. They started with numerous dead ball situations that I thought we defended well, but in the main that first period was contested in the middle third of the pitch. Our second period started much better and I thought territorially we showed more of ourselves than we did certainly in the first-half, and a little bit closer to what I think the fans have seen and we have expected of ourselves throughout pre-season.
"Their goal came out of the blue a little bit didn't it and I think there was a shout for offside, we will see that in the disc later on. But, never the less, when you go a goal behind and it is 90 degrees then it is never easy to get back in the game. So, for a group that is trying to find that chemistry all the time it is a good character building process. We score in the final five minutes and that will do everybody the world of good.
"We have got wide players and Luke (Freeman) has shown in flashes this afternoon how capable he is one v one, but we have got wide players that can make things happen. Lucas (Akins) did ever so well, he has got two good feet, I thought his shot had good power on it and Robin (Shroot) was on the spot to prod home the rebound.
"When the season opens up the last thing you want at home is to get beat, and of course we wanted to come away from here with three points. But, as I have said, it is a building process and we will make sure that Tuesday night is part of that building block.
"I think it is probably the old adage today that if you can't win don't get beat and today we certainly found life more difficult to find the sort of form and quality that we would expect. I think those expectations have started to build a little bit around the place, they have seen us play in the cup, albeit against League Two opposition. We all know what we are capable of and today we didn't quite find our fluency."