Report from CATONS LANE SAFFRON WALDEN TOWN 1 (B Newman) FULBOURN INSTITUTE 2 (A Pettit, J Abbs) ASSISTANT manager John Butchart was disappointed that The Bloods had failed to take at least a point against high-flying Fulbourn. I was disappointed with

Report from CATONS LANE

SAFFRON WALDEN TOWN 1

(B Newman)

FULBOURN INSTITUTE 2

(A Pettit, J Abbs)

ASSISTANT manager John Butchart was disappointed that The Bloods had failed to take at least a point against high-flying Fulbourn.

"I was disappointed with the first half" he said. "We seemed to take our foot off the gas once we equalised.

"We were more fired up after the break and put them under a lot of pressure in the end.

"It was nice to see us pinning them in their own area for long spells, but it was disappointing not to get a point.

"We had plenty of chances, but failed to put them in the net. We need to be a 90 minute team, not a 45 minute one."

In front of a crowd of 168, the visitors took a fifth-minute lead when Mark Abbs' diagonal ball caught Richard Chadwick napping, and Andy Pettit blasted into the top right hand corner of the net.

Dave Pledger brought off a good save from a Joe Abbs free-kick in the 12th minute before Walden equalised shortly after.

Ben Riches had rounded Alec Barnthorpe in the visitors' goal and looked set to put the ball into an unguarded net before being pushed by Arron Davidson.

Ben Newman took the resulting penalty, and sent Barnthorpe the wrong way from the spot.

Joe Abbs fired over the bar in the 22nd minute before scoring what proved to be the winner three minutes later.

He shook off Darren Wardley before sending a curling shot from the edge of the box into the roof of the net.

Ben Riches should have netted Walden's second equaliser of the day just before the break when he outpaced the defence before firing wide.

With player-boss Marc Das making a rare appearance in place of Newman, Walden created plenty of chances after the break, with Sean Anderson forcing a good save from Barnthorpe, and the visiting keeper also doing well to keep out a Gareth Lippiatt header.

A frantic five-minute spell saw substitute Tom Richardson twice go close, and Anderson shoot straight at the visiting keeper.

Riches had the final chance of the game for Walden as he broke free before firing straight at Barnthorpe to end the Bloods' chance of avoiding their eighth league defeat of the season.

Walden: D Pledger, M Clark, B Newman (M Das), A Riches, M Danbury, D Wardley, B Green (T Richardson), S Anderson, B Riches, G Lippiatt, R Chadwick (S Leys). Unused subs: T Butchart, J Harvey.

# Walden travel to strugglers Great Yarmouth on Saturday hoping to repeat their 2-0 opening day success over the Norfolk side.