Baldwin bemoans poor performance from Wick

Kieron Playle-Howard skippered Wick in their defeat to Lancing on Saturday. Picture: Stephen Goodger

Second half strikes from Alex Fair and Lewis Finney’s retaken penalty ensured a patched-up Lancers ran out 2-0 victors in the Southern Combination League Premier Division encounter at Crabtree Park.

Wick went into the game second from bottom in the standings and all three teams directly above them failed to pick up maximum points.

Baldwin believes it was an opportunity missed and a really flat display from his team. He said: “I’d say it was our worst performance of the season, we were so flat.

“Everyone was excited going into the game as we felt it was a winnable match.

“It’s frustrating as we’ve been matching teams in recent weeks but this was not good enough.

“Looking back, it’s a real opportunity missed with teams above us failing to win. The only saving grace was other teams have not moved further away from us in the table. We’ve just got to bounce back from this defeat and move forward.”

Following a blistering start, Wick failed to create many opportunities in what proved to be a lacklustre display.

Very little quality was on show, before a moment of magic saw Lancers go ahead on the hour.

Fair and Finney combined on the edge of the penalty area, with the former firing past Lewis Boughton to make it 1-0.

Andy Brown then hauled down opposition skipper George Fenton with 20 minutes left and a spot-kick was given.

Boughton pulled off a fine stop to save Finney’s penalty, only for the linesman to order a retake.

Finney made no mistake at the second time of asking to double Lancing’s lead as they ran out 2-0 victors.

Wick are without a game on Saturday, before they return to action with a trip to Broadbridge Heath in the league on Tuesday.

WICK: Boughton; A.Brown, Playle-Howard, Madden, Bingham; Ediker, C.Williamson, Weir; Hutchings, R.Brown, Chick. Subs: J.Williamson (Ediker), Hardwell (C.Williamson), Brazil (Bingham), Eyres, Hallett.

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