RAIDERS might have salvaged a last-ditch draw against Dudley Sports but boss Karl Gormley pulled no punches over a display deemed “not good enough”.

Played at Malvern Town, the Claines Lane club’s fourth base for a home match this season, Raiders had to rely on George Corbett’s 90th-minute equaliser to bag a 2-2 draw with the West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division’s bottom club.

REPORT & PLAYER RATINGS - Raiders 2 Dudley Sports 2

It was also the first time Raiders had taken to the pitch since February 8 due to recent deluges but Gormley was in no mood for excuses.

“I thought we were woeful in the first half, they deserved the lead,” he said.

“We couldn’t quite put our finger on it but changed things at half-time, the formation, and went more attacking.

“We improved a little bit in the second half but it was not great and the whole team performance was not good enough.

“I would like to put it down to the weather but I think that would be an excuse and to be honest it was a tough one to take.

“We had a few words with the lads after the game and all we can do is try to put it right on Wednesday, we are training on Monday and have (league leaders) Shifnal coming to us so we will need to get our act together quickly.”

Raiders had been due to play from a revamped facility at Claines Lane from the start of October but ended up playing a home match against Pershore Town at the Community Stadium and then hosting opponents at Nunnery Wood Sports Complex.

Temporary facilities have since been installed, enabling matches to take place at Claines Lane while landowners and site managers from the Worcestershire FA see through delayed redevelopment work, but many have been called off in recent weeks, adding to a fixture backlog.

That led club bosses to ask Malvern to use the 3G pitch at the HDAnywhere Community Stadium, cutting to 13 the number of matches to fit into the final eight weeks of the campaign.

“We don’t want to make excuses but it has been so difficult, playing all of those away games, going to Nunnery and now having all this bad weather,” added Gormley.

“There is not much we can do, we knew this season would be tough but we have held our own and while it is mathematically possible for us to go up we will keep battling for that third or fourth (promotion) place.

“The Worcestershire FA has been great, they have helped out where they can and it has been difficult for them as well because there is so much going on up there.

“Again, the weather hasn’t helped and held things up a bit. The builders are up there now and work is going on and we are just telling ourselves ‘by this time next year everything will be done’, we just have to keep going.

“We have a lot of games to go and are just hoping for some good weather but that’s not happening at the minute.

“Malvern have been really good in helping us out but they are busy with bookings and we appreciate Dudley coming over on a Friday night.”

Midfielder Paul Smith will have the calf strain that forced his withdrawal from action assessed ahead of the midweek match with Shifnal.

“He’s a tough lad, he won’t be out for long,” said Gormley.