Evesham 1, Old Silhillians 2

DESPITE having the majority of possession and the potential to win comfortably, Evesham once again flattered to deceive in Saturday's latest league match.

After last season when they brushed aside moderate opposition with ease, the Vale side continued their run of bad run of form as they wasted chances and showed naivety in their decision-making.

To make matters worse, last season's top scorer Chris Perry was shown a red card and will be suspended for two matches for his outburst towards the umpire.

As usual, the home side started brightly and were only denied by the visiting goalkeeper.

Stuart Bearcroft showed glimpses of his best form in attack, while the return of fully fit skipper Martin Husbands allowed the ball to be held up and distributed more effectively in the final third of the pitch.

Yet it was the visitors who opened the scoring as their first spell of pressure after 20 minutes when the ball was carelessly given away to leave keeper James Nicholas helpless.

This seemed to inject a little more urgency into the home side and, as they pressured the Sils' defence, Steve Miller showed excellent skill in lifting the ball high into the net after a goalmouth scramble.

This should have provided the basis for a comfortable Evesham victory but they wasted the opportunity to take the lead when Perry saw his penalty stroke saved after Husbands was brought down in the area.

Once again, Evesham produced a poor second half performance as they tried to walk the ball or batter their way towards the visitors' goal.

Despite their control of the ball, Evesham then allowed their opponents, in possibly only their second attack of the game, a soft short corner and the subsequent goalmouth confusion gave the visitors a decisive goal.

Jamie Dodgson missed two good chances to equalise, Nick Lloyd and Mark Brown saw efforts go unrewarded while Bearcroft's mazy run ended in an excellent save.

Skipper Husbands said: "We have got to start taking chances and playing more intelligent hockey.

"Confidence is low and at the moment frustration is manifesting itself in poor decision making and indiscipline. I think we are close to playing really well, but individuals have got to look hard at their own performances before the next game."

Evesham visit Bloxwich on Saturday when victory could lift them into mid-table.