CRC 1  Stanway Rovers 1

This was a frustrating night that is best summed up as a game we should have won but could have lost. We were not at our best, looking particularly ragged for a spell in the second half, but still created enough chances to have taken all three points.

We could not have got off to a worse start. With Lewis Carr and Alex Bevan injured, this was not the best game to lose Blaine Hudson with a one match ban for five cautions. It meant that we fielded a makeshift back four and within 30 seconds of kicking off the league's leading scorer had added another to his tally.

Sam Newson gave Josh England in particular a torrid time all evening with intelligent runs off his shoulder and having surrendered possession he easily evaded the attention of our centre backs, rounded the advancing Laurie Walker and fired into the far top corner from an acute angle with the confidence befitting a striker with 29 goals in 24 matches.

We started so uncertainly that another goal for the visitors looked on the cards with Newson being our chief tormentor. It was only when we started to get hold of the ball and pose our visitors a few problems did we recover our composure. We started to pop the ball around at a good tempo and Jack Bailey extended their keeper when the far corner beckoned from his position inside the box after more good approach play.

Maz (Adam Marriott) almost created a tap in for Jack with a good low cross, just failed to convert from close range when the roles were reversed and JP (Jordan Patrick) was thwarted by another fingertip save. He was not to be denied for long though. Jack Eades delivered a pinpoint corner which was flicked on at the near post by Liam Hughes and JP adjusted fantastically well at the far post to control his header into the top corner.

The 20 minutes leading up to our equaliser, apart from the last 5 minutes when the visitors had run themselves into the ground, was without doubt our best spell of the game. For the reminder of the game we couldn't sustain pressure, found it difficult to break down our obdurate opponents and always looked vulnerable to the counter attack.

However much we can criticise our own shortcomings, credit must go to Steve Downey for setting up his team so well and Stanway for implementing his game plan with such hard work and discipline. Many teams have deployed a 4-5-1 formation but Newson, as a deep lying forward, gave them an added dimension by combining their defensive solidity with an attacking threat.

Having been on the end of an Adam Marriott hat-trick in the FA Youth Cup last season, as Colchester United's Youth boss, and knowing all about our other threats, Steve made it difficult for us to play our usual game by screening our front players and trying to double up on our wingers. We needed to stretch the game by hitting more diagonal passes to free the opposite wide player and needed more unselfish running by our front players to leave holes for others. Unfortunately, especially in the second half, our team became too stretched so our usual pattern of play went out of the window and the game became exactly as our visitors would have hoped.

To break down a well drilled team with 10 players behind the ball is not easy but if you can't play through them, you have to go round them. We don't have the players up front to hit early from deep positions so when we are too direct it plays into our opponents hands.

The biggest lesson to learn is that we must play with greater thought and composure when teams pose these sorts of problems. To pull a team out of shape also needs a sharpness of movement and energy that was lacking. The players looked tired in the second half and whilst we will analyse why, the last stop/start two months we have experienced doesn't help.

Whatever the reason we looked disjointed for much of the night and it was only in the closing stages did we threaten a winning goal. The three best chances fell to first year scholars and they will both reflect on their finishes with regret. Joe should have laced his chance instead of being too careful with a side footed strike which was cleared off the line, Iggy scuffed a volley when he should have steered the ball home and in the last minute of injury time hit the keeper with a low drive when he needed to show disguise and pick his corner. How easy it is to score goals with the benefit of hindsight whilst tapping on a keyboard! Both players will learn from the misses and composure in front of goal comes with experience and maturity.

Joe & Iggy are making their first steps in senior football and are both talented players who will create and score many goals in the future. We have definitely improved in this area this season and have not been guilty of wasting opportunities to win matches since our only defeat on the opening day of the season. In one way we are victims of our own success. By winning so many games by a comfortable margin, we haven't had to "dig out" many results. Our last one goal victory was against the same opponents back in November. It is a lot harder to take chances when the game is in the balance as opposed to when you are 2, 3 or 4-0 up.

In terms of league points and our chances of maintaining our lead over title favourites Needham Market, it was not a good night. However, in terms of educating and developing our young players, it was a fantastic learning curve. Tough games like this are far more beneficial than easy wins and with the likes of Needham Market, Leiston, Wisbech, Dereham , Kirkley and Wroxham (twice) to come, our scholars will certainly be tested to the full between now and the end of the season.

Finally, I would like to give Rory McAuley a quick mention. Our primary aim is always to produce footballers rather than accrue points. To this end, Rory's display for the first team last Saturday was hugely pleasing. We are the biggest critics of the young players but his performance was excellent and showed all of his qualities. Rory is the sort of the lad you would want alongside you in the trenches. If I had a must win game, he would be my first pick. And lest we forget, his education and development as a scholar came in our inaugural season as CRC where we won just 5 of his first 30 games.

Set-backs and tough times are character building for those with the right character so we must not become too preoccupied with fielding the strongest available team to win matches. We must play first year scholars in the team at the right time for their development as opposed to when they are ready to win matches. Otherwise, our production line of players going into the first team will grind to a halt.

Team: Walker, Thorpe, Brighton, Coakley, England, Hughes, Eades (Bennett 75), Berry, Bailey (Igglesden 60), Marriott, Patrick