BOSS Tom Killick admitted his side were struggling to be clinical at both ends of the pitch, following their 2-1 loss at home against Hungerford Town.

A goal from Will Spetch early in the second half got Dolphins back in the contest at 1-1 after Luke Hopper’s strike put the visitors into an early lead.

But the winner came for the struggling Crusaders, who are currently without a permanent manager, when Louie Soares fired home just past the hour mark.

Killick, whose team saw a lot of the ball against a direct Hungerford outfit, insisted his charges were not effective enough at both ends of the field.

He told the Daily Echo: “We are not looking good in either box at the moment – that is the worst type of problem.

“We have always based ourselves on being strong defensively and also being a threat offensively.

“At the moment we are not doing well at either end.

“I thought they looked dead on their feet when we equalised. I was very confident we would go on and win the game then.

“But we conceded a really soft goal, which used to be unlike us.”

He added: “It was a bit worrying that our best attacking player was Ollie Balmer.

“He is making his way in the game.

“He is someone we think has an awful lot of potential.

“While I am really pleased for him, and it gives me food for thought, it’s also a concern that he was so much more effective than a lot of other players.”

Dolphins bossed possession in the opening exchanges against a Hungerford side struggling in National South. But it was the away side who opened the scoring on 15 minutes.

A routine ball forward allowed striker Stefan Brown to race through and shoot. He saw his initial effort saved but the rebound fell straight to Hopper to convert with ease for 1-0.

Striker Hopper again broke free on 40 minutes and his looping effort clipped the top of the crossbar.

Killick looked to the bench at the interval and brought on youngster Balmer in place of Tony Lee, with Spetch moving into a more advanced role in a change of system.

And on 51 minutes the home side drew level.

A defensive lapse allowed Spetch the chance to pounce and he finished well into the bottom corner.

But against the run of play, resolute Hungerford found a winner.

Another ball down the channel was picked up by Soares, who cut inside and smashed into the roof of the net.

The defeat was Dolphins’ third in a row, leaving them 15th in the league table with seven points from their opening seven games.

Dolphins: Hutchings, Lindsay, Moore, Spetch, Whisken, Pettefer (Bedford, 75) Burbidge (Oxlade-Chamberlain, 66) Devlin, Lee (Balmer, h-t), Baggie, Dickson. Unused subs: Rees (g/k), Cooper.