Presteigne Juniors Under 17s’ recent improved run came to an end when they were beaten 4-2 at Ross Juniors on Sunday, 23 November.
Joint-manager Haydn Williams said it had been a frustrating day for the players and coaching staff.
“We lost against Ross for the second time this season, but it has to be said that the boys never settled into the game on a typical November pitch,” said Haydn.
“Ross adapted much better than us as we were never going to be able to play our passing game on what was a sticky surface.
“We were soon behind when a long ball was allowed to bounce between the centre backs resulting in an easy opportunity for the Ross striker to finish.
“In all honesty Ross should have added further goals before they made it 2-0 from the penalty spot after a trip in the box – we had no complaints with the decision.
“Josh Gardner reduced the arrears before the break with a well taken goal, taking full advantage of one of the few chances we created.
“We had the ball in the back of the net again before half-time when Tom raced on to a through ball and then smashed his shot against the bar but, while the rebound fell to Luke Saunders who slotted home, he was then flagged offside.
“This seemed a strange decision as he appeared to run from behind the centre back and then, to compound our frustrations, Ross immediately made it 3-1 with another long ball over the top.
“The second half was a stop-start affair where we had a lot of possession but only managed the one goal when Josh Gardner netted his second of the afternoon – a sweet left-foot finish.
“He then hit the post while Kieran, Kai and Tom all came close for us.
“But Ross rounded off the scoring when a ball wasn’t dealt with at the back leaving an easy chance for the striker to slot home.
“There’s no getting away from the fact that this was a disappointing day as we got nowhere near to the levels of last week.
“There were a lot of disappointed faces in the dressing room, but while we’ll learn from it, there’s no point in dwelling on it for too long.
“Let’s move on and put on a better display against Peggy next week.”