Underwood rues missed opportunity

Published 5 Mar 2010 14:00 0 Comments

SANDHURST Town boss Jon Underwood was left to rue a missed penalty as he saw his side slip to an unfortunate 2-0 defeat against local rivals Camberley Town in the Combined Counties Premier Division on Tuesday.

The fourth-placed Fizzers enjoyed the better of the game against their second-placed visitors at Bottom Meadow.

But James Mepham's skied second half spot kick was to prove crucial as goals at the end of each half sealed the points for Camberley.

Underwood said: "I'm a bit disappointed because we played really well - even their manager admitted he thought we were the better side.

"But that's not much consolation - I would rather have played rubbish and won.

"James is an excellent penalty-taker and I have never seen him balloon one like that.

"It's a shame because I felt we could have got something from the game if we had scored at that point."

Sandhurst had deserved to go into half-time at least on level terms, but Julian Sills' goal for Camberley on the stroke of half-time gave the visitors the advantage.

And Mepham's missed penalty on 55 minutes was to prove crucial as the Fizzers failed to find an equaliser, before Jacob Peace sealed Camberley's win with a breakaway goal on the stroke of full-time.

Tuesday's reverse came after Underwood had praised the character of his players after seeing them come from behind three times before edging Ash United 4-3 last weekend.

Dan Simmonds was the hero for the Fizzers, grabbing the winner six minutes from time to snatch the points for his side.

It was a fine return to action for Underwood's men after the recent bad weather had seen them without a game for more than two weeks.

But the side picked up from where they left off at Raynes Park Vale on February 10, making it three wins in a row to stay fourth in the Combined Counties Premier Division.

In all three of those games, Sandhurst have trailed at the break before hitting back to take maximum points.

And Underwood said: "That says a lot for the spirit among our players.

"It shows the belief they are playing with at the moment and it also shows off their fitness levels.

"We have been working very hard on that side of things with all the recent postponements, which I don't necessarily think every club has been.

"And Saturday showed the rewards you can get for putting that effort in."

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This article appeared in Villager 04 Mar 10

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