It was anyways going to be a defensive lapse that decided that game. Neither side had the wit to unlock what were two pretty well organised defences. Pope barely got a sniff all match and the 10 spent most of his time fouling, or on his arse. We had our moments in the first half, from balls played to feet, but the second half showed the folly of playing Porter. OK he didn’t do badly in the first half but, as DA alluded to, as soon as they applied any pressure we just whacked it in his general direction. He doesn’t hold the ball up well in those situations and Legge had him for breakfast, either legitimately or otherwise - and mostly fairly.

If we are going to try and relieve pressure we need to play into what seems to called the channels these days (between the CH and FB I would call it) for a couple of pacy frontmen to run on to. Defenders at this level don’t like pace, which we have if the right players are used - we also have a bit of it in MF but, unfortunately, Kirky disappeared after the first 30 minutes and Ainley flattered to deceive on this occasion.

Having said all that I’m not despondent about the season. We’ve had two 6-0s and other than that it’s been pretty tight stuff. We can debate all night long about which 6-0 was the aberration but I still reckon we look a lot better than this time last year - not Top 10 material, but not relegation fodder either.

Hopefully by the time I get back from my jollies we’ll be a few places higher and in the next round of the Mickey Mouse Cup - keep the faith!