NEW Milton Town may have survived the stormy weekend weather – but they were unable to avoid falling foul of a whirlwind Brading performance.

The Wessex Premier Division clash was one of just two to be played in the league, with Friday night’s heavy rain claiming a number of casualties.

But by 5pm on Saturday evening, Linnets probably wished their game had also been postponed.

The team’s early season form had been way above expectations, but Andy Bye’s men have come back down to earth in recent weeks, with Brading becoming the second consecutive visiting side to score four goals at Fawcett’s Field.

Bye feels his team’s lack of concentration is costing them.

Describing Saturday’s performance, which yielded just a Robbie Woolner goal in a 4-1 defeat, Bye said: “We started off poorly and they got the initiative with a goal.

“But we got on top and back into the game with a goal and we went in at half-time at 1-1 and looking quite strong.

“Unfortunately we went back to sleep in the second half.

“We’re just having spells that are costing us. They went 3-1 up within 15 minutes of the restart.

“Then we had another good spell for 20 or 25 minutes, but unfortunately another bad spell culminated in conceding another goal and a player being sent off.”

Bye puts his side’s lack of recent form partly down to a lack of squad depth, due to injury and suspension problems.

That situation did not improve on Saturday, with Raj Chengadu limping off because of a hamstring problem and brother Kish Chengadu seeing red for two bookable offences.

On a more positive note, Bye, who is joint-manager with Paul Masters, was pleased with the efforts of goalscorer Woolner and Dan Pidgley.

“It was one of Robbie’s better games,” Bye told the Echo. “He worked hard and did well.

“And Dan Pidgley is really on top of his game recently.”

Despite their recent blips, there is no doubt Linnets have done far better than most pundits predicted prior to the season. Thirty points from 20 matches represents a massive improvement on last term, when they struggled against relegation.

Bye said: “Perhaps the expectation got a bit ahead of itself and we’re back to reality now.

“I’m sure we’ll come out the other side better for it.”

New Milton Town: Anderson, R Chengadu (Woods), K Chengadu, Clarke, Coleman, Burt, Holland, Grace, Pidgley, Woolner, Sampays (Cox). Unused sub: Urquhart.

POPPIES PEGGED BACK

A MOMENT of magic from Lymington Town’s Dave Midgeley denied Bournemouth Poppies another league win.

Kenny Vaughan’s men are much improved and it took a long-range free-kick from Midgeley to deny them a victory at Victoria Park on Saturday.

Dan Jones put Poppies ahead on seven minutes, but Midgeley’s 68th-minute strike earned a 1-1 draw.

Poppies: E Roberts, Jones, S Langrish, G Langrish, Blake, Beckett, Wrixton, Sanderson, P Roberts (M Toy, 50). Saadi, Jack. Unused subs: Glavin, Neville, Vaughan.

All of the weekend’s other local non-league matches were postponed.