Broadbridge Heath back to school and '˜must try harder' after AFC Uckfield loss

After a goalless first half, the Bears were undone by a 12-minute Uckfield blitz in which they conceded three goals.

A late Tim Martin penalty was merely a consolation goal as Broadbridge Heath were beaten for the first time in six games.

Bears boss Steve Painter was thoroughly disappointed with the way his side played, conceding that their opposition were fully deserving of the win.

Painter also felt that the two-week break his side had to endure due to poor weather also didn’t help their cause.

He said: “To be fair to Uckfield, they were fully deserving. They were better than us for most of the match.

“Although we had an opportunity at 0-0 to go one up when we hit the post, and the last 15 minutes perhaps, we just weren’t at the races.

“I’m not going to make any excuses, there are no excuses from our end, Uckfield were the better side. They wanted it more than we did, we lacked a little bit of desire, which is unusual for us.

“The only thing that you could look at is maybe the two-week gap has done us no good at all. We were going really well up until then. We had no injuries, we were at full strength, but we’ve just got to put that to bed.

“The football we played over the Christmas period was some of the best we played but we just couldn’t get near them.

“They had a game plan and they stuck to it, and it was spot on. If it were a school report you’d say ‘must try harder’. That was one thing I could never fault them for, they are an honest bunch of lads.”

Up next for the Bears is a trip to top of the table Shoreham, who consolidated their lead with a 3-1 away win over Peacehaven.

Painter stressed: “We’ve got to play better. If we are as bad as we were on Saturday then we are in for a long afternoon against Shoreham. I’m proud of what the lads have done so far, we’ve just got to put that last game to bed and move on to Shoreham.”

Broadbridge Heath: M.Chester, Godfrey, Robinson, S.Chester, Maxwell, Findlay, Moore, Weller, Sultan, Holmes, Wright. Subs: Holvey, Martin, Nash.