SHAFTESBURY TOWN RESERVES 2

BALTI SPORTS 0

BALTI Sports remain winless in the Dorset Premier League this year after a 2-0 defeat to Shaftesbury Town Reserves at Cockrams.

Goals in each half from Lee Gale and Callum Bent gave the Rockies all three points, but Sports’ boss Marco Nott was left to reflect on several missed chances for his side.

Speaking to Echosport, the Balti boss also lamented a poor playing surface which made for a fractured game.

He said: “It was a really scrappy game. The pitch was really bobbly and nobody could play football on it.

“They took their chance in the first half when Andy (Nott) made a good save but they tapped it in.

“We had a couple of good chances, they got one off the line from Ryan Dovell and on the rebound we hit the bar.

“Danny Andrews went through and missed and then Matt Roberts got an elbow and his eye blew up so he couldn’t continue. Then Josh Burton landed on his ankle – he could be out for a while.

“I had to play Rory Zima and Jack Taylor. To say we were stretched would be a bit of an understatement.”

Despite the injury setbacks, Nott’s side created numerous opportunities before succumbing to Bent’s blockbuster strike.

He said: “We had a sin bin with Charlie Kenderdine and it rolled into the second half – we’ve been through that enough times this season.

“It was an even game and Ricky Lane hit a volley from close range and should’ve scored to make it 1-1.

“Danny missed a good chance and then their lad hit one from 25 yards which hit the post and went in, then it was pretty much game over.”

The defeat was Sports’ fourth league loss in 2018 but Nott was in positive mood about Balti’s display, despite the growing number of players out injured.

He said: “I couldn’t fault the work rate of the lads, it was outstanding. By no means were we in control, we just had some clear-cut chances we missed and they scored theirs.

“I can’t be too harsh on the players this week because we just didn’t take our chances – the effort was there, it was frustrating.

“It got worse for us as Liam Taylor strained his hamstring. That meant I had to come on just to try and save him.

“We lost Simon Proffitt through injury at training on Tuesday. Ash Batchelor wasn’t fit enough and we had 10 players missing. At any level you’re up against it.”

Balti: A Nott, Pearce, Burton (J Taylor 30), Anderson, L Taylor (M Nott 85), Kenderdine, Roberts (Zima 20), Dovell, Houghton, Andrews, Lane