Gwent County League Division 3

BLACKROCK Rovers manager Paul Lovell blasted his players, calling them ‘weak, pathetic and unwilling to break into a sweat’ after they lost 9-1 at Wattsville.

“There were players arguing, pointing fingers and some actually looked as though they were giving up,” Lovell fumed.

“There was some very poor defending early on which allowed Wattsville to race into a 3-0 lead and although Russell Griffiths scored to cut the deficit, it seemed as though every time the home side attacked, we conceded another.

“We had what we thought was a strong defence but it was actually very shaky.”

Now Lovell is promising some home truths will be coming his players’ way in training sessions this season.

“We’ve gone from a bright start to a gloomy future, it would appear,” he added

“The second half saw a capitulation I never thought I would witness at Blackrock. The players were weak and pathetic, conceding five goals in the second half.”

Also in Division 3, Caldicot Castle boss Alex Hart was disappointed his side were forced to come back from two goals down to grab a point at home to Wainfelin Bluebirds.

After seeing his side take an early lead through a Craig McCluskey penalty after Scott McKeon was brought down by the visitors’ keeper, Hart said some refereeing decisions had let his side down again.

“It would be nice to get a fair rub of the green,” he said.

“Wainfelin then started attacking down the channels and equalised with an over-hit cross.”

Although both teams had chances it was level at the break but the visitors began the second half by scoring from the kick-off and then went further ahead with a hotly-disputed penalty.

“Our keeper Dave Hayward made a great block but the ref saw it differently and pointed to the spot,” Hart added.

“We responded with two Joe O’Brien goals to equalise but then a Wainfelin player charged down a clearance with his elbow to set up a goalmouth scramble but Hayward did well to keep us level.

“We have a bit of an availability crisis at the moment and lost two players in the first half but we are grinding out results although with the chances we had in the second half, I think it’s two points lost rather than one gained.”

Meanwhile Sudbrook CC won at Rockfield Rovers whose manager Dave Seymour said the visitors deserved to win because of their first half performance.

“We only really showed what we are capable of after we went 2-0 down,” he said.

“Ryan Jones pulled one back but experience won in the end.”