Summary
Another loss and another poor performance, particularly in the second half. It is difficult to see where this game went wrong. We began with great purpose, just as we used to do last season. However, after about 20 minutes, it was as if a switch had been flicked and we suddenly stopped playing. Up till then we had been quite dominant, and underlined our superiority with a well-taken goal by Matt O’Donnell, scoring for the first time this season. But when we conceded the equaliser, it seemed to affect us and we never quite recovered. Sloppy defending at a corner allowed Park Regis to go into half-time ahead at 2-1. Then a basic error high up the pitch, failing to control the ball from a simple throw-in and then not getting back quickly enough, resulted in a third goal that sealed our fate. Poor touches and a real lack of commitment from too many players contributed to a dismal display. We did not really deserve anything from this game. Last week’s brilliant performance seems light years away compared with today. We need to dig deep over the next few weeks to try and stem the flow of disappointment. It cannot be too long before we hit form and start to convert our chances

Match Highlights
4 mins – Charlie Caine has already chased several balls over the top, which have caught the Park defence flat-footed but we have yet to produce anything meaningful from them
6 mins – Sam Royden-Ryell whips in a corner across the face of the goal and we are unable to apply a finishing touch
7 mins – Charlie’s persistence forces an error but his final shot lacks power and is easily saved
10 mins – GOAL. MATT O’DONNELL. Again, good work from Charlie, whose persistence forces a parry from the keeper, only as far as Matt who drills in a great shot from 20 yards
13 mins – Scott Brown has also worked hard so far and his miscued shot finds Sam but he cannot direct his header
14 mins – GOAL. PARK REGIS. Failure to head away a long clearance. Brad makes a great save 1-on-1 but the rebound is tapped in easily
18 mins – Scott finds himself through and cuts in towards goal but his shot thunders off the crossbar
19 mins – Jack Hughes pressurises the defence and eventually works an opening on the left of goal but can only poke the ball wide
21 mins – GOAL. PARK REGIS. From a corner, we fail to mark properly and they score from a simple free header in the six-yard box
24 mins – We are starting to wobble and give away another needless freekick, which should have been punished but we got away with it
26 mins – Matt OD has another half-volley from a similar position to his goal but this time it is about a foot over the bar
28 mins – Another long clearance by Brad is chased down by Charlie but his attempted lob bounces off the roof of the net
45 mins – HALF TIME 2-1
46 mins – We go out with purpose again and immediately Scott works his way into the box. He crosses, Charlie takes a defender away to leave Sam with a simple tap-in but, disappointingly, we see the ball fly high over the bar from six yards out
52 mins – A half chance for Jack Hughes as Charlie flicks on a cross but Jack cannot reach it in time
60 mins – SUBSTITUTION. DAN D’ROSARIO on. SAM ROYDEN-RYELL off. Dan’s back has recovered enough for him to enter the fray, replacing Sam up front
61 mins – GOAL PARK REGIS. Andrew takes a throw-in high up the pitch. Dan lays it back but Andy fails to control a simple ball. Park take a quick throw-in as a result. We fail to get back and less than 10 seconds later, Brad is picking the ball out of our net
65 mins – An identical situation involving the same two players. From our own throw-in high up the pitch we give away another throw-in, but we get away with this time
66 mins – DOUBLE SUBSTITUTION. MATT GEORGE and JACK HINE on. MATT O’DONNELL and ANDREW SKIVINGTON off. Direct replacements at centremidfield and left-back, respectively.
82 mins – The game seems to be petering out. Dan hits a hopeful freekick goalwards but nobody seems interested in getting on the end of it

Man of the Match: None
For the first time that I can recall, I was unable to award a Man-Of-The-Match because there were so many lacklustre performances