MANAGER Russell Dodd lamented Highgate United’s misfortunes, following a 2-0 defeat to Worcester City in the FA Vase.
Goals from Joe Hawkins and Sean Brain earned the hosts a place in the first round of the competition, despite the latter being sent off at the Victoria Ground.
Dodd feels his side have been putting in performances worthy of getting results despite their poor recent form, and says he has not been helped by several incomings and outgoings in a short space of time.
“We have the players as well as the quality,” he said.
“We have rarely looked second best over the whole of the ninety minutes, but for some reason we are failing to gel as a team.
“Constantly being forced to change the line up certainly hasn’t helped, and with Marco Adaggio, Macauley Manning, Scott Rickards and Danny Morris all having moved on, we are currently relying on a number of players still adapting to playing at this level of football.”
The defeat was their sixth from their previous seven fixtures, a record that was always likely to continue when Hawkins struck after just three minutes when turning the ball in from a corner towards the far post.
Despite the set back, Gate eventually found their feet and were unlucky not to level on the half-hour mark when Lei Brown’s close-range header failed to hit the back of the net.
To make matters worse, Brain doubled Worcester’s lead against the run of play nine minutes before the break.
But with the goalscorer then sent for an early bath after ending James Wilcock’s afternoon, the visitors continued to apply even more pressure in search of a route back into the game.
For all of Highgate’s good play, they were unable to turn their possession into chances, with Daniel Jezeph untroubled for the remainder of the game.
With another loss confirmed, the Gate will aim to get back to winning ways when visiting eighth-placed Tividale on Saturday (3pm).
