Sidley take heart despite defeat

The Blues gave their high-flying visitors a real scare on Saturday when they came back from three goals down to trail 3-2 before two late strikes sealed their fate.

Joint manager Andy Laskey said: "The players showed a lot of fight to come back the way they did and any neutral watching would have said that scoreline was not a fair reflection of the match."

The outcome hinged to some extent on a controversial incident after half an hour when Sidley were convinced they should have been awarded a free kick for a foul on Jordan Wood just outside the YM box.

The home side took their protests too far with Steve Morris and Keith Miles both going in the book for dissent. The referee also gave YM a free kick in the centre of the pitch and when the ball was lumped forward Greg Thurstans failed to gather which allowed Ali Russell to open the scoring. Sidley were still bemoaning their luck when they conceded a second before half time, substitute Clinton Moore adding insult to injury. Laskey said: "It was a bit disappointing because for the first half an hour we at least matched them and then the referee's decision made us lose a little bit of concentration."

Russell bagged a stunning 30-yard third for YM on 57 minutes and at that stage it looked as though there was no way back for Sidley, but two goals in as many minutes meant the game was back on.

Miles grabbed the first with a precise shot to round off a superb passing move and soon after Kevin Rose, who was playing in central defence, was in the right place to apply the finishing touch to another thrilling period of play from Sidley.

"We had them rocking," admitted Laskey, only for Moore to strike a killer fourth on 77 minutes after Graham Morris had missed a defensive header. Five minutes later and it was game over as Moore completed his hat-trick in style.

Although disappointed by the defeat, Laskey said: "We've got to take heart from it and look at the positives. In the changing room afterwards myself and Dickie Day (club chairman) were saying 'if you play like that for the rest of the season we should be alright'."