We didn't take our chances through sustained pressure in open play and several set pieces of quality in delivery in the opening 20-minute period. Still, I was very pleased with how we established a foothold and control of the game for that period.

If we can sustain that level of performance for 90 minutes I am very confident we will have a successful season.

That said the next 15 minutes Staveley gained the upper hand and scored after a couple of warnings, prior to the drop off for those 15 minutes I was disappointed to see that allowing a very strong opponent back into the contest and then gaining the upper hand.

That said, credit again to the resilience in the camp as we hit back through a well-taken goal from James Rafferty as the game started to maybe flow back in our favour just as halftime came.

The 2nd half 11 vs 11 would have been a very intriguing game, how that would have developed from a good tactical battle between two sides that focus on systems and a clear style of play.

I felt with Staveley having to alter their system and style of play in the first half to gain a foothold and the challenges that may have been thrown up in the 2nd half all things being equal brought and what we may have had to do to push for the victory.

That said within the first 5 minutes we handed total advantage to Staveley by the sending off which I have no complaints about.

Giving Staveley total control of the game from then on and scoring their winning goal in the first few minutes from the sending off which we didn't adjust quickly enough system-wise.

As a side, I thought our energy was very impressive for 43 minutes with 10 men and how we pressed and stopped a very good side able to play their normal game in the 1st half.

Given the time frames there's been a good team spirit developed in a short space of time and those lads battled to try and rescue a point without ever losing spirit or fading to be picked off near the end.

I do feel things are steadily coming together as members of the squad start to return from holiday and points on the board won't be too far away so we can kick start.

See you next week
Paul