LEE Hooper admits Malvern Town simply ‘were not at the races’ after the Hillsiders lost top spot following a 3-1 defeat at Bideford AFC.
Malvern found themselves three goals behind at the break as Scott Robinson, Javan Wright and Archie Reay all struck to leave the visitors stunned at the Sports Ground.
The Hillsiders reduced the deficit after the break when Charlie Johnson found the net only for Matt MacDonald to see red in injury time as tempers boiled over.
The result means Malvern drop to third in the Southern League Division One South table, one point behind leaders Bishops Cleeve.
And while Hooper confirmed the club will appeal MacDonald’s late red card the Hillsiders boss admits his side left themselves with a mountain to climb following a poor first-half display.
Hooper said: “It was a tough day at the office. We were three-nil down in the first half and it could have been more.
“There was a big wind and we didn’t play it or defend it very well. We left ourselves with too much to do in the second half.
“We were on top in the second half and had opportunities to do more but it wasn’t to be.
“We found it tough, it’s always a tough place to come. Sometimes you’ve got to manage that as a group and be cleverer.
“We lost too many first contacts, second contacts, landings – all the things we’re good at we lost and we weren’t at the races.
“We will definitely be appealing Macca’s red card. I don’t know what else he can do to try and get out of the way.
“But we’ve got to be better and we know that’s not the levels we’ve been at recently.
“We’ll look at ourselves and how bad we were, especially in the first half, and put that right.”
Malvern fell behind after just three minutes as Robinson rose highest to plant a firm header past Hillsiders goalkeeper Seth Locke.
And Bideford almost doubled their lead soon after as Robinson and Ryan Turner missed good chances for the home side.
However, the hosts eventually struck again on 16 minutes when Wright finished from eight-yards out after Robinson won another header in the box.
The visitors almost halved the deficit as Bideford goalkeeper Shaun Semmens tipped Johnson’s header over the crossbar.
However, Bideford extended their lead on 34 minutes when Reay made the most of a poor clearance to fire a low shot into the bottom corner from 25-yards out.
The home side then won a penalty after Locke collided with Finn Roberts in the box.
However, Locke made amends as he kept out Roberts’ penalty with his legs to keep the visitors just about in the contest.
Bideford looked to protect their lead after the break as substitutes Ben Baxter and Piers Walton both worked goalkeeper Semmens.
Malvern’s pressure eventually told on 75 minutes when Johnson headed in Joe Tumelty’s cross.
The game entered seven minutes of injury time only for tempers to boil over as a melee on the touchline led to MacDonald being shown a red card.
Malvern are next in action against Frome Town on Saturday, October 25 with kick-off at 3pm at the HDAnywhere Community Stadium.
