Defensive mistakes proved costly for Sinclair United as they bowed out of the Lord Jersey Cup, losing 3-1 away to Croughton.
United were high on confidence following last week’s big win against Deddington Town Reserves, but were up against a side boasting Hellenic League experience. Stuart Ciballi returned in goal with Toby Jones coming in at right back in place of Will Jones. A knock to Josh Nash in the warm up saw David Wiles start as the lone striker.
But United’s inability to start games well paved the way for their downfall as they went 1-0 down with barely ten minutes on the clock.
Following a degree of pressure by the experienced Croughton side, a corner from the right saw United fail to clear their lines and the home side’s forward was on hand to bundle the ball past Ciballi and into the back of the net.
To United’s credit they kept fighting in an attempt to get themselves back into the cup tie, but time and again they gave the ball back to the opposition and were needlessly putting themselves under pressure in their own half.
And they were soon 2-0 down when they failed to deal with another cross, the ball falling on the edge of the area to a Croughton player, who drilled back a fierce volley which flew into the bottom corner.
The two-goal deficit did knock United back but as they finally got into the game they started to play their flowing brand of attacking football. Jones was having the freedom down the right side and his pace proved effective when attacking the Croughton goal, with Ben Washington using his speed on the left side of midfield.
The midfield trio of Ben Riley, Ian Timms and Luke Butterworth were all getting stuck into the experienced Croughton pack, and their grit and determination saw them ask questions of the home defence. A succession of corners failed to test their keeper and Butterworth was taken off injured midway through the half as a result of a strong challenge.
Any comeback however looked to be dead and buried just before halftime however, when Croughton scored their third goal. A lofted through ball over United’s defence was headed clear by Adam Timms, but as Ciballi came to collect the loose ball as well, the ball ricocheted into the path of the Croughton forward who had an easy tap in.
The halftime whistle came as a relief for United, who needed the 15-minute break to regain their focus. And barely five minutes into the second half they signalled their intent to get back into the cup tie.
Following some good play in the middle, the ball was passed out wide to Jason Pritchard but his low cross was easily dealt with by the keeper.
Pritchard again tested the Croughton keeper and as he cut inside onto his left, his curling goalbound effort needed a defensive header to send the ball just over the bar.
After an increased amount of pressure on the Croughton goal, United thought they got the goal they were looking for. After a succession of corners, a lofted ball from Riley was headed back across goal and tapped in by substitute Karl Woodcock.
But their celebrations were short lived when the referee blew for offside. A decision which took the official a few minutes to decide, when it looked as if he had given the goal.
As the Croughton players began to tire, United once again began to put increased pressure on the opposing goalkeeper and Nash finally got United’s goal midway through the second half.
Another cross from the left hand side was sent back across goal and Nash applied the simplest of touches to put the ball into the empty net.
United had Adam Timms to thank later on in the half though, when as one of the Croughton forwards had rounded Ciballi. Timms was quickest to snuff out the danger and clear the ball away before the forward could apply the finishing touch.
Despite the final whistle signalling United’s end in the competition, the second half performance was certainly a positive sign going forward. But it was the inability to start games well that proved costly once again.
Had United cut out the mistakes in the first half, this was certainly a game they could have got something out of. Steve Nash’s side are back in cup action this Saturday when they travel to division two side SWIS FC in the Oxfordshire John Waters Shield.
United: S Ciballi, T Jones, A Timms, L Jarvis, L Whitehead, B Washington, L Butterworth (K Woodcock 30), I Timms, B Riley (capt) (P Rogers 70), J Pritchard, D Wiles (J Nash 60). Sub unused: M Coyne
