“NOT one of them let me down”.
That was the opinion of Wokingham and Emmbrook manager Matt Eggleston after his patched-up side suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat at local rivals Bracknell Town on Thursday night.
Goals in both halves from Seb Bowerman and former Sumas forward Adam Cornell was enough to secure in-form Town the points and extend their unbeaten run to 10 games in the process.
Jordan Rowland, another lining up against his previous club, would halve the deficit via a stunning free-kick some 25 yards out deep into stoppage time, but the strike would arrive too late to change the outcome of this Hellenic Premier Division fixture.
Bracknell would have to play the entire second half with 10 men, too, after Carl Davies was shown a straight red for a professional foul on Luke Scope as he burst through on goal, but having the numerical advantage could not inspire the opposition to victory.
Already-relegated Wokingham and Emmbrook, who were the host club at Larges Lane having asked to switch the game from Henley, once again lined up with many first team regulars absent either through injury or unavailability.
Yet Eggleston, who was back in the dugout once again having missed Monday’s 3-2 victory at Highworth Town as he was on holiday, thought those picked to play the contest were at least deserving of a point.
“I look at what I had out there today, a mixture of first team and reserves, and not one of them let me down,” said the joint manager – who had only returned from a trip to New York just hours before kick off.
“I thought the sending off helped our cause – for me it was a straight red, he was the last man and if Luke Scope gets through he is one on one with the goalie.
“I thought we had our chances in the first half: we had one cleared off the line and the ‘keeper has made a couple of saves, and they had their chances as well, but for me I thought a draw would have been a fair result.”
The deadlock in what was a relatively tight affair was broken on 25 minutes.
Latching on to a George Short through ball saw Bowerman confidentially skip past Sean Woodward in the Wokingham goal and fire into an empty net.
Town, though, appeared to be dealt a blow when Davies was given his marching orders for upending Scope as he made his way goalwards.
Yet they rallied on and would score again 11 minutes from time. Disappointingly for Eggleston’s charges, the second arrived as his side attacked a corner.
Ben Broadhurst, under pressure from Bowerman, was unable to recycle the ball, with the latter driving on in to the box, where he would eventually lay on Cornell, who swept a tidy shot beyond Woodward and into the bottom corner.
Scope saw an earlier chance to level matters saved by the feet of Bracknell shot-stopper Gary Aulsberry, while Broadhurst produced a vital goal-line block to deny Cornell before the striker went on to net his 15th of the season for the Robins.
Much to the bemusement of the 130-plus crowd in attendance, the referee would play more than eight minutes of stoppage time.
And it was here when Rowland sent a set-piece from an inside right position up and over the wall, with the ball flashing past Aulsberry and nestling in the top corner.
It was, however, too little, too late to save the Sumas from another loss.
“I can’t fault any of those players,” added Eggleston, whose side were playing their third game in the space of six days.
“My lads are disappointed and they deserved something out of the game, and I feel sorry for them.”
Wokingham are without a game this weekend, but return to action when guests of league leaders and title-favoutires Kidlington on Tuesday (7.45pm).
WOKINGHAM AND EMMBROOK: Woodward, Carter, Day, Flatman (Rowland), Broadhurst (McNelly), Giles, Pearson (Haylett), Whiting, Scope Wheeler, Rushforth
Subs not used: Collier, Eggleston
