BRACKNELL Town manager Mark Tallentire could not hide his bitter disappointment after seeing his side slump to a 3-2 defeat against Binfield at Larges Lane, writes Dave Wright.

The Robins are battling to climb out of the Hellenic League Premier Division relegation zone, but if that is to be achieved they will certainly need to play a great deal better than they did on a wet and windy Friday night.

“We were abysmal for 25 minutes,” admitted Tallentire after seeing his side concede an early own goal and then trail 3-0 after 22 minutes following Liam Ferdinand and Jemel Johnson strikes.

“To play like that in a game that for us had so much riding on it was very disappointing.

“We just couldn’t get the basics right. We didn’t win headers, we didn’t win tackles. We gave them all their goals; they could have been stopped.”

With a season’s best crowd of 345 looking on, Bracknell did pull a goal back through new signing Kensley Maloney, a former Binfield player, but they never really looked capable of getting back on level terms.

“After gifting them that first goal, we didn’t throw the towel in, but we went to pot,” added Tallentire.

“Our organisation was poor. Instead of getting in our shape and getting tucked in and hard to beat, we left ourselves open.

“There were massive gaps between our back four and midfield; we were not compact.

“I said to the lads at half time there was so much wrong in that first 25 minutes that I couldn’t go through everything with them – there wasn’t enough time. That was how poor we were.

“We did give ourselves a little leg up with a goal from Kensley, but half time couldn’t come quick enough for us.

“We tried to organise the team a little bit better for the second half. We got some good momentum after the restart and I thought for 25 minutes we did ok.

“We got another goal and had plenty of other situations of getting the ball into the six-yard box.

“On another day we might even have scraped a draw, but that would have been a get out of jail card.”

Tallentire continued: “You cannot give teams like Binfield a head start and we paid the ultimate price.

“There were things wrong with my team that I didn’t expect and I was a bit surprised about to be honest.

“I felt we had most of the best players on the pitch, but we still finished second best to a well-organised Binfield side.

“They did not have the same quality players as us, but they worked tirelessly and put us under pressure and didn’t allow us a moment to get on the ball and play our football.

“I can’t hide my disappointment with that result, but it was hopefully a kick up the backside that this team needs.”

This derby, played in driving rain, will be remembered for two own goals, with home defender Callum Witty heading the ball into his net to gift Binfield their early opener.

Then Moles keeper Nathan Silver let the wet ball slip through his hands from a Bracknell cross for Town’s second goal.

With just four wins and five draws from 22 games, Bracknell remain second from bottom of the table and are nine points from safety, but they have games in hand over most of the fellow strugglers.

“We’ve still got plenty of time to move up the table and I’m confident the players will respond,” said Tallentire.

Bracknell visit Brackley Town Saints this Saturday, while seventh-placed Binfield travel to Brimscombe & Thrupp.

Binfield manager Roger Herridge had some comforting words for Bracknell after the game, saying: “They will pick up some wins and end up finishing mid table. I have no doubts whatsoever.”