Having beaten today's opponents the previous Sunday we were confident of continuing our excellent start to the season with a fifth win . We picked a strong team and reacted to the previous weeks disruption by only taking 2 subs with us. Callum returned to the defence and Sean started on the right flank in the only changes to last weeks win.

The whole of the first half was probably the most one-sided half of football I have seen for some time. We tackled really well from the front through to the back, we played at a tempo that was too quick for our opponents and we passed the ball really well. We created a succession of chances, but the Mangotsfield goalkeeper had another inspired game and seemed to save everything we threw at him.

The only criticism was that we didn't shoot early enough. We were very strong both in midfield and out wide and we also tried to vary our corners, something we had practiced in training . We had a golden opportunity to take the lead when we were awarded a penalty with a few minutes of the first half remaining, but James Page struck the ball too high and it cannoned back from the crossbar.

Halftime came with the match scoreless but with us totally dominant .We spoke about continuing to do what we had been doing but to recognise that it would be slightly more difficult as we were now playing up the slope.

The second half started brightly for us and we were eventually rewarded for all of our pressure when Matt Newbery produced a smart turn and finish into the bottom corner. I felt then that we would go on to win comfortably if we could have held the lead for 10 minutes but unfortunately a few minutes after taking the lead a bobbling shot from distance somehow bounced and squirmed into the net through Dan's grasp.

We introduced fresh legs through Arran at the back and Sam on the right and tried to press, but Mangotsfield had their tails up and a bit more confidence, and started getting a few breaks. From a scuffed goal kick the Mangotsfield forward ran through and seconds later the ball was in our net for the second time.

In the closing minutes we kept pressing forward , and had good efforts from Joe Alemzadeh and Josh but we couldn’t quite get the equalising goal past an inspired Mangotsfield keeper. The final whistle blew on a disappointing defeat by two goals to one and although the result was not what we wanted the performance was generally quite good. We were punished for a few individual mistakes but as I said to the boys ‘ sometimes these things happen in football.

Match Performances

Dan Ellis – had little to do for most of the game , which may have contributed to the lapse that allowed the equaliser

Joe Alemzadeh – covered well , headed the ball well after a shaky start , got forward well and unlucky with a good shot at the end

Matt Baker – did well at right back , which allowed him to get forward more than usual . Had a few good runs down the right and a few crosses after receiving from corners .

Callum Hawkins – defended well as usual . Got forward for corners as well as taking a few His one mistake was punished by the winning goal.

Scott Crane – had a good first half in which he cleared effectively with both feet and covered behind well . Had a period at the beginning of the second half in which he struggled .

Arran Moran – did well when he came on – usual mixture of interceptions , dribbling and tackling   

Matt Newbery – another all action performance full of great tackling . Fully deserved his goal , which was well taken , bravely carried on after a nasty clash .

James Page – Passed the ball well , challenged for possession a bit better than recently , but penalty miss was costly .

Sean Fahey – had a strong first half on the right , passed well and ran strongly , possibly mistakenly switched up front for the last quarter .

Josh Seymour – worked really hard up and down his wing , responded well to some rough tackling , never gave up

Dan Abbott – worked hard up front , turned well and set up team mates – needs to get those shots away quicker

Liam Vincent – tried hard , his tight control and dribbling skills in enclosed spaces caused our opponents trouble throughout , needs to lay the ball off a bit quicker sometimes