Shirley Town's good promising start to the season suffered a set back on Saturday as they fell to a single goal defeat against Mole Valley SCR A. In all honesty, the result was a deserved one as the team failed to live up to the confident performance seen the week before against Cheam as Shirley started the game slowly and never really got going.

After weathering early pressure from the home side with Bufton making a couple of routine stops, Shirley did put together some good moves and thought they had scored when Custance latched on to a loose ball and lobbed the keeper, but SCR got lucky as the covering defender, clueless as to where the ball was, cleared the ball off the line when it hit him on the back. Despite appeals that the ball had crossed the line, the referee allowed play to continue.

The game ebbed and flowed up to half time with neither side able to create any clear cut chances, or stamp their authority so the teams went in goalless.

The second half did not get much better, but it was the home side who started to create the openings. Despite excellent performances from the back four, and plenty of effort in midfield and up front it was a 'bad day at the office' for the Town as they found it impossible to get their passing game going and as a result, chances in front of goal were few and far between, save for a couple of set pieces, which failed to seriously test the Mole Valley keeper.

The game seemed to be heading for a nil-nil bore draw when disaster struck for Town. A ball in to the box failed to be cleared after several attempts and finally landed at the feet of a Mole Valley striker who prodded home through the crowd.

It was a disappointing way to lose a disappointing match after a dismal performance and Shirley Town will be looking to make amends next week. Manager Paul Harris certainly has a hard task picking the right team for next week's home game against Crescent Rovers.

Referee : Dave Hogan
Player Ratings provided by Paul Harris