A GALLANT 10-man effort was not enough for the Settlers Inn-sponsored Port United Football Mid-North Coast Premier League side as it went down 5-3 against second-placed Old Bar Barbarians on Saturday.
The day wasn’t all bad for United, as the reserves inflicted the first defeat of the season on the Barbarians and jumped to the top of the table.
In the senior encounter, United was under-strength again with the withdrawals of the injury-stricken Tim Yule and Alex Gillespie forcing a reshuffle.
Old Bar started strongly and went close to scoring early.
The Barbarians had the better of play for the first 15 minutes before United settled down and got themselves into the game.
Matt Denham and Michael Kluttegen caused problems for the Old Bar defence with Denham twice going close and having a one-on-one with the goalie smothered after a neat run to split the defence.
United controlled the majority of play and had Old Bar resorting to long ball tactics into the soft corners.
However, shortly before the break United was dealt a blow with the sending off of Kluttegen for a silly retaliation foul that will see him miss a few games.
Half-time arrived with the score 0-all and coach Greg Baldwin urged his players to dig deep.
But, the second period got off to the worst possible start when a defensive lapse allowed Old Bar to take the lead with a well-placed shot across goal that sent the large vocal crowd into raptures.
The Barbarians pushed extra players forward in an effort to take advantage of the spare man and took a 2-0 margin.
However, United struck back almost immediately when a perfect cross from Denham has headed in by Tom Adams.
This lifted the visitors and, for the next 10 minutes, United looked like they had the extra man.
The side was rewarded when a cross was headed by Ben Mailer. The keeper fumbled and was unable to stop the ball rolling over the line, which levelled up at 2-all.
The chance of a miracle result was soon squashed as some poor defending left an unmarked Old Bar player to score from a corner and another to break through for a one-on-one to all but wrap up the game for Old Bar.
With 10 minutes remaining, the Barbarians again scored.
However, United never gave up and, soon after, Matt Lacey grabbed the team’s third.
Adams also went within millimetres of getting a fourth.
Baldwin was disappointed with the result but pleased with the effort under the circumstances.
“The sending off was a real turning point in the game,” he said.
“At that stage we were well in the game and playing the better football.
“It was a tremendous effort for most of the match with 10 men.
“The real disappointment was how soft some of the goals we conceded”.
United now turns its attention to a crunch game against the Camden Haven Redbacks this weekend.