A LATE comeback was not enough to deny Wokingham & Emmbrook FC Oranges a hard-earned 3-2 victory against Teddington Athletic Sharks in their East Berkshire Football Alliance U15s Division Four match on Saturday.

Oranges started the day bottom of the table, but in no way looked out of their depth against a Teddington side who finished two divisions above them last season.

Although the Sharks created more chances, Oranges had plenty of the ball, and just lacked the key final pass to open up the Teddington defence.

Kai Evans started brightly on the right for Wokingham, and finally helped his side take the lead when his cross found Matt Rogers who headed the ball beyond the goalkeeper seconds before the half-time whistle.

Three minutes into the second half Evans was involved again in the scoring, this time sprinting onto Nathan Mulvaney’s clever through-ball to fire his side 2-0 up.

And Mulvaney also got his name on the scoresheet with eight minutes remaining, when he collected Oliver Vickers’ pass and burst into the box to make it 3-0.

That should have been game over, but Oranges tired and lost some of their shape and discipline in the closing stages, conceding a well-worked goal with only six minutes remaining, and then a penalty with virtually the last kick of the game.

It was a performance of hard work and character, typified by Kieran Edgecock on the left wing, who picked up the man-of-the-match award in only his third outing for the team.