Horsham YMCA boss Buckland expects immediate response after Saltdean United defeat

The leaders suffered just their second Premier Division loss as they went down 3-2 to third-placed promotion rivals Saltdean United on Tuesday night in a rearranged match.

Saltdean climbed up to second with the win, while YM remain top of the table by one point, having played an extra game.

The original game between the sides in August was abandoned due to a Saltdean player’s injury with YM leading 3-1 with 81 minutes played.

Buckland said: “It was disappointing to go 3-0 down after 30 minutes through a mad ten minutes when we switched off at the back.

“We pulled two goals back before half-time and we could have gone into the break level.

“I was pleased with the way we pulled back and in fact I didn’t want the whistle to blow as there was only one team likely to score.

“In the second half we camped in their half but they (Saltdean) defended really well and are a good, hard-working side.”

YMCA conceded three goals in the first 30 minutes, scored by the Tigers’ Jamie Brotherton, Will Berry and Josh Marshall.

Buckland’s side fought back with two goals in the last five minutes before half-time, both netted by Dean Bown.

Buckland added: “It wasn’t the best day for us to play as we were missing Tony Nwachukwu (two-match ban), Ollie Moore (holiday) and Ollie Gill (whiplash due to a car crash).”

The YM boss expects his side to win at Eastbourne this weekend.

He said: “There is no crisis after this defeat, I expect us to win on Saturday, this is the perfect game for us to bounce back with and there can be no excuses.”