BINFIELD manager Roger Herridge was satisfied with the point from their 1-1 draw even though visitors Flackwell Heath had only 10 men for last 33 minutes, writes Dave Wright.

But, having seen them quickly tire, he told his players they need to improve their fitness levels.

Overall, it was certainly a much better performance from the Moles following their 4-1 home defeat by Brackley Town Saints the previous Saturday.

Despite that heavy reverse Binfield made a positive start to this Hellenic League game last Friday and could easily have gone two or three goals ahead.

“I was really happy with us in the first half,” said Herridge. “It was good to see we had the confidence to pass the ball around.

“Some of our combination work in the final third was good and we created a number of opportunities.”

Brad Pagliaroli went close early on and the hosts had a strong appeal for a penalty turned down when Alex Colverd went down in the area.

“I thought it was a stonewall penalty,” commented Herridge. “If key moments don’t go for you, it is very difficult to win.”

However, Binfield did get a penalty in the 33rd minute for a foul on Pagliaroli and Josh Howell made no mistake from the spot to give them a deserved lead, and shortly afterwards Ian Davies missed an opportunity to double it.

Binfield had been forced to make a change in the first 10 minutes when young right-back Owen Powell was carried off with a jarred knee, and they suffered another blow early in the second half when Jeff Brown suffered a hamstring injury.

Binfield’s hopes of hanging on to their lead were given a boost in the 57th minute when Flackwell’s James Tripp, the last defender, brought down Davies and was sent off, but it was the visitors who upped their game.

Switching to 4-3-2, they started to take the upper hand and, with Binfield playing deep, the home goal came under pressure although Davies and Howell still managed to create chances for themselves at the other end.

Heathens, who had parted company with manager Paul Shone last week, equalised through Francis Amartey on 79 minutes when he swivelled to turn the ball past keeper Henry Craven.

Colverd was only inches away from restoring Binfield’s lead, but it needed a fine block by Craven to deny Amartey a second goal.

Herridge commented: “It was disappointing not to have won after getting our noses in front, as we would have liked to have taken all three points off one of the top sides. They are a good team and even with 10 players can still be good.

“They then brought on some fresh legs from the bench and showed good pace which troubled us a little bit. But we got tired in the end. Part of the reason for that was we had players coming back from injury and, after having to replace young Owen and then Brownie, we were restricted as far as making changes.

“If there is an area of our game where we need to improve on, it is certainly fitness and that is down to me to sort out.”

Herridge concluded: “In the end, I was happy with the point and they (Flackwell) probably deserved one for their showing after going down to 10 men.”

Binfield are away to Chinnor in the Bluefin Sport Hellenic League Cup this Saturday (3pm) then meet Ascot United at Hill Farm Lane next Monday (7.45pm) in the Perptua Press Hellenic Floodlit Cup.