BINFIELD slumped to their third successive defeat in a little over a week when going down 2-1 to Brackley Town Saints at Hill Farm Lane, writes Dave Wright.

The Moles had gone into Saturday’s game third in the Hellenic League standings with Saints lying second from bottom.

But it appeared as though the table had been turned completely upside down as Binfield were made to look second best for much of the afternoon.

They were missing leading scorer Liam Ferdinand, who was playing in the UK Asian Football Championship at Celtic Park in Scotland, while new signings Ben Poynter, from Bracknell, and Courtney Lawrence, previously with Burnham, were among the substitutes.

Binfield got off to a sluggish start and fell behind after just five minutes when they failed to pick up Chris Jordan at a corner and he headed home.

Manager Roger Herridge revealed after the game he had warned his players about giving away soft goals from set-pieces.

Then in the 22nd minute his defence was undone by a quality move down that ended with Matt Johnson’s ball into the area being turned home by Josh Murphy.

Saints twice went close to increasing their lead with Herridge becoming increasingly frustrated with the way his side were performing.

They were still struggling to find any rhythm as the visitors were quick to shut them down and looked more inventive in midfield and attack.

Just after the half-hour mark, the game had to be stopped when referee’s assistant Steve Reading slipped up, twisting his knee and dislocating his shoulder.

An announcement over the PA system for a replacement was answered by Binfield club man Richard ‘Lance’ Lansiquot – making his 52nd birthday a little bit more memorable than he had expected.

The 20-minute delay gave Herridge an opportunity to get his players together in a bid to sort things out and the Moles did get themselves back in the game thanks to a goal from Luke Scope after 32 minutes.

Binfield did improve in the second half but without creating too many clear-cut chances.

Poytner and Lawrence both came off the bench to make their debuts, with the former showing a few nice touches in midfield.

But it was a day when none of the Binfield players really displayed their true form and Herridge was left bitterly disappointed.

“It is just not happening for us at the moment, but we will bounce back,” he said.

Binfield are home to Brimscombe & Thrupp this Saturday (3pm).