Sittingbourne find themselves three points adrift at the bottom of the Dr Marten Eastern Division as John Roles tasted his first defeat as Sittingbourne Manager away at the picturesque Lincolnshire town of Stamford.

Despite the defeat at times Sittingbourne showed the same grit as they had shown in the two previous matches  and after just six minutes they had a chance through Ben Bray but he blasted over.  Just after this Stuart Harrison should have done better with a chance which was blocked. Stamford’s first effort came eight minutes later as the ball broke to  Tom Betteridge who found himself in a one to one against  James Creed but Creed trapped the ball in his thighs, (no mean feat!).

Sittingbourne’s best chance of the half came in the 19^th minute when Tyrone King’s pass found Paul Campbell who unleashed a cracking shot which Stamford goalkeeper Steve Corry did well to block,. The ball ran loose to Matt Russell but his shot was kicked off the line to give Stamford a lucky let off.

Stamford took the lead against the run of the play after 26 minutes when a cross fell onto the head of Paul Humphries but the young Brickies defender failed to get distance in the header and the ball fell to Dennis Rhule who gave Creed no chance. The Brickies had no chance to regroup  as  5 minutes later David Staff produced a fine solo run and capped it with a great finish to put the home side two up.

Stuart Harrison had been ineffectual in the first half, and at half time he was replaced by Peter Davis. Soon after John Guest came on for Paul Humphreys, and Bradley Spice replaced Ben Bray. Unfortunately the changes didn’t have the desired effect and despite a lot of effort the Brickies just couldn’t  carve the breakthrough.

The game was  a niggly affair throughout and lenient referee Mr Kirkup was showing a reluctance to produce yellow cards, this seemed to encourage some fierce challenges from both sides.

The Brickies were now pressing and this was leading to a few holes at the back and after 64 minutes Creed did well to hold a glancing header from an unmarked Dennis Rhule.

Marvin Neufville was trying hard up front but he was being given a tough time by the Stamford defence, however on 77 minutes he produced a great shot which was parried at full stretch by Corry.

Time was running out for the Brickies and tempers were frayed not only on the field but on  the Managers benches  as the assistant referee stepped in between the two dug outs to put a halt to some interesting verbal exchanges between the Managers! The tension continued and with four minutes to go a flare up between Neil Miller and David Staff led to Miller throwing a punch at the Stamford defender and this time Mr Kirkup brandished the red card at Miller and the yellow at Staff.  The gloom was descending, the floodlights didn't work! and the game was now beyond the Brickies and in the end Stamford just deserved their victory.

A mixed performance from the Brickies with no one standing out as Man of The Match. Matt Russell and Stuart Harrison were largely ineffective and Marvin Neufville never did get to grips with the Stamford back line, and in this match the long high ball forward just didn't work. Tyrone King made a promising return to the team whilst John Guest and Neil Miller,  (until he lost his head), played well in defence . Marc Seager and Roy Clarke were as solid as ever and Paul Campbell was his usual busy self. Youngsters Ben Bray, Paul Humphreys, and  Bradley Spice are trying hard and are learning with every match.

Disclaimer: These are the views of the author and not necessarily Sittingbourne FC