Winning Run Ended By League Leaders

Following an unbeaten run of five games that stretches back until the 21st October league leaders BRNESC caught us on a bad day when injuries and absence meant several changes where made. Connor came in at right back which saw Jamie Jeffers moving into central midfield and there were starts for both Dan Galvin and Ethan Danku in the wide areas. Our start was relatively positive, they were physical but we gave as good as we got unfortunately the luck went all their way and we found ourselves two down after just 11 minutes. The response however was good, a Ross Keegan free-kick was tipped onto the bar by their keeper and Gift smashed home the rebound. We felt we were back in it and Ross should have put us level when a clever quick free kick by Paddy got him in behind their defence but he dragged his shot wide of the far post. A deflected effort took it's way past Harry in the 28th minute which saw us trailing 3-1 at the break.

A change in formation saw us go to 4-3-3 with Johnny coming on to give us the extra body in midfield that was giving BRNESC loads of space in the first half and we looked so much better. It was the same old story though as wasteful finishing yet again cost us with Alex, Gift and Ross all missing good chances that should have drew us level. Poor communication by Harry and Jay saw our centre half concede a penalty when he tried to shield the ball only for there to be no pace on it his challenge brought their man down and we suffered a further blow when Jay was shown red for dissent. It killed us off and as hard as the 10 men worked it was inevitable BRNESC were going to go on and hurt us showing no mercy. A stunning long range strike which two keepers wouldn't have saved made it 5-1 then an overhead kick in the box 6-1 which was a result under the circumstances we'd have taken. Some excellent combination play by Paddy and Jude Carroll set Ross up for a late consolation, but salt was rubbed into the wounds with two late strikes gave a final score of 8-2. It was a hurtful day but also a game where there were positives to take and that must now spur us on to bounce back next week