Saints suffered a second home defeat of the season on a difficult night at St James Park as a confidant Wealdstone side ended a four game win-less run.

“We were slow out of the traps and they were particularly slick and brave in possession,” Gavin Cowan said. “Credit to them for hitting the ground running and we were on the back foot which is not like us. To be two goals down so early in the second half made it hard but we grew into the game second half.”

Junior Tiensia set the tone bringing a save from Jonny Maxted in the opening minute as Wealdstone seized the initiative from the very first moment before Captain Enzio Boldewijn fired The Stones ahead on 21 minutes from Anthony Georgiou’s cross.
Saints came back into the game as the interval approached but were stunned within 30 seconds of the re-start as the visitors doubled the lead through Micah Obeiro’s fierce effort that beat Maxted in off the post.

Wealdstone ‘keeper Dante Baptiste’s first action of the night was to save from Morgan Roberts on 80 minutes as Saints rallied and threatened a grandstand finish. Twice in added time substitute Danny Waldron was close to reducing the deficit. First, a shot clipped the post when through on goal before Baptiste saved well as Waldron again bore down on goal.

“It is disappointing because it should not take that long to land a glove on the game and to implement our game strategy, “Cowan said. “In the final phase it was really off tonight – in those key moments in the final third we fluffed our lines. We need to bounce back now and to drive the energy and the positivity. In the last two games we have not been at our best but we have been in the games. It is a long season. I wasn’t getting too excited when we were doing really well only two games ago and I am certainly not getting too down now. We have had a really positive start to the season and we need to kick on again now.”

Brackley Town: Maxted, Armitage, Dean (Donawa 82), Lilly, Price, Brown (Hobson 17), Calder, Hall (Pollock 58), Lowe, Roberts, Okafor (Waldron 58). Subs not used: Gregory, Haynes, Morrison.

Wealdstone: Baptiste, Georgiou, Woodman (Diarra 84), Boldewijn, Kadji, Obeiro, Chinedu, Tshikuna (Olomola 66), McAvoy (Hassan 46), Adarkwa, Tiensia (Hutchinson 84). Subs not used: Mussa, Kretzschmar, Covolan.

Referee: Ross Martin Assistants: Niall Felton and Chris Husband 4th Official: Kieran Forrest
Attendance: 837