MERE TOWN 1

BALTI SPORTS 1

BALTI boss Marco Nott admitted that hosts Mere Town got under his side’s skin, as they could only muster a 1-1 draw on Saturday.

The Dorset Premier League title hopefuls saw their lead cut to 10 points as Holt United hammered Parley 7-0. Holt also have five games in hand on Balti, with the top two set to face off at Weymouth College on Saturday (2pm).

Reflecting on the contest at Mere, in which manager Marco Nott had to go in goal in the absence of brother Andy, the Sports manager told Echosport: “We were very poor in the first half and just couldn’t get going at all. We lacked a bit of energy and were hampered by losing five or six from the previous week.

“We sort of went down to their level, to be honest.

“They were trying to wind us up and it was working a treat. They were just being irritable and we totally forgot about playing football.”

He added: “We sort of just wasted half an hour trying to kick them and doing all sorts really. We were getting bullied and it was just unlike us, we looked flat and lacked ideas.

“They are quite a young side but they are annoying. There are no two ways about it.

“They went with a game plan to upset us and it worked, to be honest. We were definitely rattled and, it wasn’t until we got our goal, that we cleared our heads and tried to get going.”

Mere opened the scoring after just five minutes. The home side worked the ball in from the right and, although Nott made a good save, a Mere striker followed up and put the ball into the net.

After 30 minutes, the visitors got their leveller in a move which Nott admitted was “out of nothing”.

Striker Danny Andrews found the net to add to his impressive tally for the campaign.

Nott added: “It must have been a very poor game to watch, to be honest. A draw was probably a fair result for both teams.”

Balti: M Nott, Pearce, Welch, Anderson, Batchelor, Lock (Jarvis), Zima, Nichols (Roberts), Devaney, Houghton (Proffitt), Andrews