Two soft penalties ultimately proved costly as the Whites’ poor run of form continued with defeat to a determined Croft Blue side.
The Whites have struggled to recapture the sort of performance level the coaches, parents and players themselves know they are capable of since a long, weather-enforced break from action through December and January and resembled a collection of individuals, rather than a team, for the third game in succession.
Croft themselves have had a difficult time since moving up to Division 1 but were deserving winners after the visitors failed to get anywhere near the same highs they reached when winning an epic County Cup contest on the same ground 12 months ago.
The Colts were too hurried in possession, nowhere near committed enough in the tackle or the air and there was a distinct lack of movement off the ball.
Tom had already made a brilliant goalline clearance and Luke a couple of smart stops to deny Croft an opener as they pushed forward down the slope on a very soft playing surface. And so it was against the run of play that the Colts took the lead thanks to a rare piece of quality, Brandon M doing well to find Matthew on the left before his excellent crossfield ball teed up new signing Sam for his first goal for the team.
That should have been a springboard for a Colts side sorely lacking in confidence at present but a foul in the box after some hesitant play from the defence allowed Croft to draw level from the spot. The hosts then grabbed the lead in fortuitous circumstances when a cross-come-shot drifted in via the far post after the Colts again failed to clear their lines successfully.
Bradley and Josh got to grips with the Croft attack in the second half and the latter was certainly one of the better performers on the day. As such, things were far more even as Max found more space to manoeuvre, Tom got forward well on the right and Brandon H supported the front-runner.
It looked like an equaliser might never arrive when Toby whipped over a couple of dangerous corners and saw Matthew hit the bar from the first and the Croft defence clear the second off the line. But the breakthrough came when Liam F broke well from midfield and fed Sam, whose classy finish found the top corner. He had produced a similar strike moments before, only to be denied by the offside flag.
The fired-up Colts had two minutes to grab a winner but the decisive goal arrived at the other end of the field. More weak play allowed the ball to come in from the Croft left and roll across the face of goal, before the home striker was pushed to the floor while facing away from goal. Croft took their golden opportunity with aplomb, with the penalty finding the top corner to seal the Colts’ fate.