BALTI Sports boss Marco Nott feels his side needs to “take pride” in their defending after suffering a 5-3 Dorset Premier League loss to Hamworthy Recreation at the Hamworthy Club.

Sports had taken the lead through Danny Andrews but the visitors twice found themselves three goals down at 4-1 and 5-2 before a late Ricky Lane penalty reduced their arrears.

But Nott was under no illusion as to where his team’s troubles lie, telling Echosport that he had “lost count” of how many goals Sports had conceded this season.

He said: “It’s not good enough. We said it before the game, we needed to be stronger and take pride in our defending. We leave ourselves so open at the back it’s frustrating.

“They really were basic goals. I’ve lost count of how many goals we’ve conceded. If we look at our defensive record it’s as good as a relegation team.

“I’ve said time and time again as soon as we come up against a good team we can’t afford to make those mistakes because we won’t score as regularly as we have been. We can’t keep doing it, it’s not acceptable.”

After taking the lead, Nott said Balti “completely switched off” as Hamworthy went into half-time with a 3-1 lead.

“They played some good football and pressed us really high but Danny slotted his goal in quite well. I thought we could keep the lead, but we completely switched off.

“One was from a free-kick, one was from a throw-in and they headed it in. Then their lad took it round Andy (Nott) and made it 3-1. They were much the better side.”

“We changed the formation and went 3-5-2. It was a new formation for us, but we gave it a go and had nothing to lose.

“It worked for about 10-15 minutes. We played well and pressed high with a good tempo,” he said.

“Their keeper played a long ball and it bounced and the lad slotted it in to make it 4-1. We made it 4-2 through Sammy Nicholls, he fired it in from 18 yards.

“We then got done on the counter, big time. Their lad was unmarked and scored a good header. Their striker caused us problems all day long.

“At 5-2 it was pretty much game over. Rory (Zima) and Ricky both had chances but we got a penalty at the end and Ricky slotted it in to make it 5-3,” he added.

Balti: A Nott, Batchelor (Taylor 10), Roberts (Nichols 46), Proffitt, Pearce, Devaney, Dovell, Kenderdine, Preece (Zima 75), Andrews, Lane. Sub not used: M Nott

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