BRACKLEY have made a slow start to the season because of an injury crisis but with some of their big boys coming back this was always going to be hard.

Then we made it worse by conceding within 90 seconds.

It was poor defending, you could see the ball going into the channel but we chose to appeal for offside instead of chasing after their striker.

Then Jody has missed an open goal when Jake Lee’s shot came back off the post, while it was a cast-iron penalty on the half-hour – it was four yards inside the box – and the ref has given a free kick.

While we wasted that opportunity with a poor delivery, they have gone up the other end three minutes later and hit a free kick with such venom that Bully could not hold it. They had three white shirts around Bully for the follow-up and it is 2-0.

Then Nathan, who got better through the game after a rusty start, did something very un-Nathan-like to give away a penalty in stoppage time and that is 3-0.

Thee was big gulf between the teams and it was men against boys, to be honest.

There may be an element of green-eyed monster from me but we can’t compete with Brackley. They are in a league within a league.

I believe Martin Blackwood , their No.11, played for England’s non-league side last season and the last time I saw Jon Challinor he was playing for Torquay on the telly. On Saturday, he came off the Brackley bench!

How can you compete with that when you have seven of your first team out injured or suspended. I’m not saying my best XI would have beaten Brackley, but we would have competed better.

We now have ten days to regroup before the Cup game with Forest Green and I hope I can get some of the bodies back.

Everyone has had a chance to play and I think I now know who can cut it at this level.