Similar story as slow start costs Golds yet again

Ady Baker felt Littlehampton Football Club's defeat on Saturday had an all too familiar feel to it.
Ben Gray's effort was not enough to prevent Golds from falling to defeat on Saturday. Picture: Kate Shemilt KS16000949Ben Gray's effort was not enough to prevent Golds from falling to defeat on Saturday. Picture: Kate Shemilt KS16000949
Ben Gray's effort was not enough to prevent Golds from falling to defeat on Saturday. Picture: Kate Shemilt KS16000949

A lacklustre beginning saw them fall 3-0 down inside 55 minutes in their Southern Combination League Premier Division clash at Peacehaven & Telscombe.

An inspired finish almost saw them snatch a point but efforts from both Ben Gray and George Gaskin in the final 30 minutes weren’t enough to see them earn anything, suffering a 3-2 defeat.

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Golds boss Baker was left hugely frustrated and feels his team must learn their lessons.

He said: “Once again we are having to chase a game, leaving ourselves with so much to do in the closing stages.

“We seem to wake up when we are three or four goals down and really want to get back in it then.

“If you want to win games of football you can’t afford to keep letting teams have a two or three goal start.

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“It’s not just the back four, as a whole team we are not defending in the right way.

“We’ve got great attacking qualities and seem to think, no matter what, we will just outscore teams. If you look at our last three games, we’ve conceded ten and scored nine times.

“I think we need to adapt our game and not be as attacking all the time to try and keep ourselves in matches and not leave us with a mountain to climb.”

After Ross McKay hauled down a Peacehaven player on the half-hour, the home side were awarded a penalty. Golds goalkeeper Luke Hutchings pulled off a fine stop to keep things level.

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Magpies did not have to wait too long to take the lead after that miss as Curtis Ford fired them ahead five minutes later.

A tough opening 45 minutes were then capped off as Joshua Marshall made it 2-0 four minutes before the break.

Littlehampton were looking for a lift in the second half but that didn’t come as Reilly Grant added a third eight minutes after the restart.

With Golds looking out of it, Gray was first to a rebound to slot into an empty net with 30 minutes left to play.

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After being denied by a post and the crossbar, Gaskin reacted quickest to make it 3-2 on 67 minutes.

Golds now had the upper hand and were applying all the pressure with time running out.

Both Gray and Cole were sent racing clear one-on one but the pair were denied by Peacehaven stopper Jordan Hawkins.

McKay then nearly made up for his early penalty concession with a late leveller. The ball fell kindly for him, only for his strike to come back out off the crossbar as Golds suffered a second league loss in a row.

Golds host Eastbourne United on Saturday.

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LITTLEHAMPTON: Hutchings; D.Hand, Bates, McKay; Lewis, Janman, Kempson, M.Hand; Gray, Gaskin, Cole. Subs: O’Connor (Lewis), Kew (D.Hand), Ashman (Janman), Lofting.

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