MIDFIELDER Luke Watson described his team as “gutted” after Jersey Bulls squandered a two-goal lead late at home to runaway leaders Farnham Town.
The Surrey side have been a cut above their Combined Counties Premier Division South rivals all campaign, having dropped only one point from 28 games prior to the trip to Jersey.
While Bulls can hold their heads high for becoming just the second team to take points from Farnham, Gary Freeman’s charges were just moments away from so much more.
The hosts made a wonderful start to the match, shocking the visitors to take a 2-0 lead into the break, before two late goals, the latter by way of an error from goalkeeper Pierce Roche, cost them a crucial win.
“We tried to take them on and I think we played some fantastic stuff, especially in the first half,” said Watson.
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“We knew they were defensively vulnerable and I thought we played a brilliant opening 45 minutes to capitalize on that.”
Leading marksman Lorne Bickley’s fifth-minute strike marked his 23rd league goal of the season, before Jonny Le Quesne doubled the advantage just after the half-hour mark.
“When Lorne [Bickley] is on song, no one wants to play against him,” continued the experienced Watson.
“I wouldn’t want to play against him. Adam [Trotter] and Jonny [Le Quesne] as well, they proved a real handful for Farnham.
“Maybe we took our foot off the gas a bit in the second half, which is similar to what we did against them a few weeks ago.
“The first goal we conceded was disappointing, but the second was just a freak moment.
“Mistakes happen and we all make them, being in net is such a difficult job because one mistake can cost a goal just like in this case.
“But Pierce is a fantastic keeper who has been so important for us this season.
“We will all get right behind him after this and he’s the kind of character that will bounce back from this positively, I have no doubt about it.”
The incident Watson referred to saw the Bulls shot stopper attempt to claim and subsequently misjudge an initially harmless cross, which sailed over his head into an empty net on 85 minutes to level the score, which is how it stayed until the final whistle.
Manager Freeman said: “I thought our play in the first half was excellent.
“Our goals came from great runs in midfield and two top quality finishes too.
“We created lots of chances and, on another day, we might have had three or four. But we played some excellent attacking football and thoroughly deserved our goals.
“I thought we were doing a good job to hold them off, especially after they got their first goal and were throwing everything at us.
“Pierce has been absolutely outstanding for us this season after stepping in for Euan [Van Der Vliet]. We’re all just gutted for him.
“It was a crazy moment, but it doesn’t change anything for any of us.
“He’s still a top class keeper who we rate incredibly highly. He’s made some massive saves this season for us and he’s a superb young man who will learn from this.
“On the positive side though, that’s one more point towards our play-off push and an excellent performance against a seriously good side to grow on.
“If we do achieve promotion, we will play against teams of this calibre next season and it’s great to know we can mix it with them.
“When the dust settles, we will take an awful lot of confidence from this performance.”
