North Walsham Town 1, Mattishall 2ON a damp and windswept Friday at Greens Road, the Angels put in a horror show against league strugglers Mattishall to deservedly lose.

North Walsham Town 1, Mattishall 2

ON a damp and windswept Friday at Greens Road, the Angels put in a horror show against league strugglers Mattishall to deservedly lose.

This was a truly dismal display by all involved and has certainly brought the squad back down to earth with a bump. A major reaction was hoped for at training and in Saturday's Norfolk Senior Cup fourth round tie at home to Ridgeons Premier Dereham.

Adam Bunton returned to the side Friday night, with Doggett reverting to right back and Palmer slotting in at left back. Davies joined Godbold and Lester on the bench.

Town started very slowly and could count themselves very fortunate not be trailing by three goals within the opening 10 minutes as a combination of reflex goalkeeping, last-ditch defending and wasteful finishing kept the scores level.

On 15 minutes, the Angels took an unlikely lead. Hinton's deep corner was headed back across goal by Lown where Lee Clarke prodded home.

Mattishall soon equalised when a cross from the right slipped through the grasp of Munday and dropped into the net.

Walsham were second-best all over the park and keeper Munday was continually called into action. With only minutes left in the half, Mattishall moved ahead.

Munday made one fine save from a swift counter-attack, but was then adjudged to have impeded the striker on the resulting rebound. This decision seemed harsh considering that Munday actually deflected the ball over the bar and the appeals from the opposition were non-existent. The penalty was powerfully driven past Munday.

It was hoped that, with the wind at their backs, the Angels would get back into the game in the second half. But Mattishall continued to look the more competent side and could have increased their lead on many occasions.

Town introduced Davies, Godbold and Lester in an attempt to salvage something, but their plans were hampered with the dismissal of Clarke. He saw red as his frustration boiled over and he disputed a decision too vehemently.

Despite the disadvantage in numbers, Town ended up playing two at the back as they finally showed some battling qualities and went close to equalising, but Bunton blazed high and wide from close range.

The Reserves won 3-1 at East Harling whilst Ross Ellis' A team grabbed an important 4-2 win over Gimingham.