Clipstone leak 13 goals in two heavy defeats

The mid-table Cobras were hammered 5-1 at home by title-chasing Newark Flowserve, three days after being pummelled 8-1 by Eastwood Community.

And Taylor confessed: “In our last two games, we haven’t been up to standard. Performances have dipped.

“But at least, the effort was still there. For times, we competed with Newark, but they showed why they are second in the league with some clinical finishing.

“They came out of the blocks more quickly than ourselves and set a good tempo. After going behind, we had a bit of possession and really should have scored to level before Newark made it 2-0.

“Our boys are having a tough time of it at the moment with injuries and suspensions, which means it’s difficult to get a settled team, and the results have showed that. We have a big squad, but I think we have ten to 12 players out.

“Once the players come back, we will be a stronger team, and it won’t be long before our fortunes change.”

At Eastwood, Clipstone were behind from the 13th minute when prolific striker Kieran Knight oopened the floodgates. After further home goals from Danny Hayes and Joe Butler, Jordan Jones did pull it back to 3-1 by the interval. But then the hosts ran in five goals in the second half through Paddy Webb, Knight, Rory Smith, Jack Allen and a Joe Meehan own goal.

Against Newark, the Cobras were on the receiving end of a Sam Agar hat-trick, on 38, 47 and 53 minutes, which was sandwiched by two strikes from Tyrell Shannon-Lewis. Steve Sowter scored their only goal on 88.