Wisbech Town were left to rue two pieces of sloppy defending last Saturday as their Northern Premier League Division One East revival was brought to a halt.
The Fenmen slipped to a 2-1 home defeat at the hands of fellow strugglers Carlton in a wind-ravaged, rain-lashed contest at the Elgoods Fenland Stadium.
Both of the Nottinghamshire side’s goals arrived from long throws – a weapon that Wisbech had been alerted to ahead of the game, but were unable to deal with effectively.
They fell behind in the 34th minute but Danny Setchell soon restored parity with a high-class free-kick. However, the contest was settled with 12 minutes to go when Carlton struck again.
“It’s a tough one to take,” said Fenmen boss Gary Setchell.
“Carlton’s long throws were highlighted as a danger before the game. We knew what to expect, but we didn’t deal with them.
“All the effort and endeavour counts for nothing when letting in the sort of goals we did. No team will win football matches if unable to defend their box.
“We’ve beaten good sides like Marske and Ossett at home this season, but what is really important is picking up points against the teams around us in the table and we couldn’t do that in this game.
“I can’t really call it a football match as the conditions made it almost impossible to even keep the ball in play.
“We said at half-time that the game might well be settled by a mistake and unfortunately it was us who made that error.
“But we still have plenty to be positive about. We’ve come a long way in the last month when performances and results have been better.
“We’ve now got to reproduce what we have done lately for the rest of this month, January, February, March and April.
Wisbech now face tough tests either side of Christmas.
Setchell’s men go to in-form Frickley Athletic this Saturday, 3pm, before hosting pre-season title favourites Stamford at the Elgoods Fenland Stadium on Boxing Day, also 3pm.
Frickley have reeled off three successive wins in all competitions following a recent change of manager while Stamford could still feature in the promotion race after suffering play-off agony last season.
“Frickley are flying since Martin McIntosh went in as manager,” added Setchell.
“They had been struggling but they will be looking to make a late push for the play-offs now.
“His teams are always big, strong and organised, and he has made three or four signings who are clearly making a difference already.
“That’s going to be a really tough game and Stamford at home on Boxing Day will be no different.
“They were one of the promotion favourites this season and will still be looking to get up the table.
“But to be honest we have done well against the better sides so hopefully that will stand us in good stead.”
Wisbech are one place and one point above the relegation zone.
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