Weakened Neston lose out to the bottom side Bramhall

Oct 26 2011 by Our Correspondent, Birkenhead News

A MAKESHIFT Neston South Wirral team went down 3-1 to bottom side Bramhall at Parkgate, in North Division Two.

With six of last week’s winning line up absent, skipper Rich Lowry handed debuts to schoolboys Johnny Crick and Luke Davies-Foo.

In an error-strewn encounter, the visitors opened the scoring when Chris Stott's reverse stick effort somehow found its way past Lowry, and this set the tone for the afternoon.

With Davies-Foo particularly impressive, Neston briefly threatened an equaliser, and James Knight worked his way into a good position before firing wide.

Bramhall themselves rarely tested the home goal, but found themselves two ahead as Stott bagged his second when Neston failed to deal with a regulation penalty corner.

After the break, Neston huffed and puffed, forcing a handful of penalty corners, but they lacked the quality to really test the Bramhall keeper.

Matty Newall found himself in the sin bin for a failure to retreat at a free-hit, and Greg Brooker – who was lucky to stay on the pitch in the first-half – followed him as frustration set in. Despite that, old warhorse Barry Roberts, crashed in a set-piece and it looked like there would be a grandstand finish.

Sadly, with five minutes left, Dave Harrald punished some careless Neston play to wrap up a first win for the Stockport outfit.

This Saturday, Neston will hope to return to winning ways, when they travel to Northop Hall.