UPWEY & BROADWEY 1 WITCHAMPTON UNITED 5

STEVE Reynolds pulled no punches when assessing his side’s “gutless” display in their Dorset Senior Trophy quarter-final hammering by Witcha-mpton United.

The Upwey & Broadwey boss described the performance as the worst he had seen in more than 20 years in charge of the side.

Missing players through injury, suspension and work commitments hindered Reynolds in his selection, but he still wasn’t expecting his men to exit the trophy in such a “lacklustre” way.

The tie was all but over by half-time with the visitors 3-0 up and in cruise control.

They added a fourth after the break before Charlie May pulled back a consolation for the hosts.

But Upwey’s misery was complete when their fellow Dorset Senior League opponents found the net again to make it 5-1.

“I’ve been in charge for over 20 years and I’ve never seen a team play like that,” said Reynolds. “It was a gutless performance and Witchampton thoroughly deser-ved their win.

“We were lacklustre from the start and I gave them a dressing down at half-time but it didn’t make a difference.

“The only player to come out of it with any recognition was Stuart Dixon, and if others had his attitude we would have got more out of it.”

The loss of the likes of Phil Anderson (suspension) and Pete Bochonko (work) clearly had a big impact on Upwey’s chances of progressing to the semi- finals.

Without a recognised centre-half to call on, Reynolds paired Richie Frost and Sam Purnell together at the back, while Ricky Lane made his debut up front alongside May.

And while massively disappointed with his players, Reynolds was also unhappy with the refereeing.

He added: “The referee gave a penalty against Jason Pearce when the ball had flown away into touch.

“Then we pushed Richie Frost forward and when he went down in the box he was booked for diving.

“And there was a tackle on Charlie Kenderdine which was a leg breaker but we didn’t even get a free-kick.”

Upwey can put their trophy loss behind them this Saturday when they host Okeford United in the league.

Upwey: Gregg, Aston, Frost, Purnell, Pearce, R Zima (Jarvis 75), Dixon, Kenderdine, Devaney, May, Lane. Sub not used: Woodward.