Two Parson Drove players sent off and two sin binned as they lose at home to Cornard United

Parson Drove 0, Cornard United 3

Thurlow Nunn League First Division North

Manager Arran Duke felt let down by his team as an indisciplined display saw them fall to another defeat on Saturday.

The home side had two players red carded, two sin binned and another booked against promotion hopefuls from Suffolk.

Drove now have just two points from eight home games and sit just one point above the relegation zone, which shouldn't be the case with such a talented group.

Duke said: "There was a handbags incident early on in the game, our lads thought the ref should have taken action against a Cornard player and then they decided the world was against them and lost their heads.

"It's the first time this season that I feel let down by them. Cornard are very good at drawing you in so you make mistakes and I told the lads before the match not to get involved, but they did.

"They have accepted the responsibility that they did not follow my instructions. There was a stupid sending off, Dean has been sin binned for something he said in the heat of the moment, Tom's got one as well.

"My lot are going to go home and blame the ref but it was nothing to do with him, we just weren't good enough."

But it could have been so different, as Drove dominated the early stages of the game, Kyial West seeing a seventh minute effort come back off the post and then a Cornard defender blocking a fierce drive from the striker.

However, The Ards slowly got into the game and opened the scoring after 25 minutes when the impressive Brad James slipped the ball through for Scott Sloots to finish from close range. Four minutes later and James was at it again, skipping down the left and crossing for Chris Walsh to make it 2-0.

Left back Ben Calvert had already been booked for a late tackle and, five minutes before the break, produced a carbon copy, receiving a second yellow card and his marching orders. Assistant player/manager Dean Miller was also sin binned for something he said to referee Rhys Taylor, leaving Drove with nine men for 10 minutes either side of the break.

Referee Taylor evened things up on the hour when Cornard left back Oli Sims received a harsh second yellow and it was 10 vs 10. But there was no Drove comeback, keeper Nick Ivanov bringing down Sloots in the box seconds later and the striker getting up to make it 3-0 from the spot. The keeper was also yellow carded.

To their credit, Drove kept plugging away and hit the woodwork for a second time when a superb cross-field ball from West was slammed against the bar by Harrison Taylor.

The home players were getting increasingly frustrated with a referee who was performing nervously in front of an assessor, and Tom Kendrick was sin binned in the 75th minute for berating the official.

In added on time Scott Waumsely saw a volley fly inches wide, but there was to be no goal for the home side and, in the final seconds, Brody Warren was red carded for bringing down the last man.

Manager Duke now needs a reaction when his side travel on Saturday to play a Huntingdon United side unbeaten at home. He said: "From the win at Heacham and the narrow defeat at Diss, we have dropped our standards so badly and we need to turn that around and pick up the points we desperately need.

"In terms of the group, they're the best I've worked with, I like being around them. There's no bad eggs at all but I can't base football selections on that. If we're not good enough, I've got to make some changes.

"No game is going to be easy for us because we are not playing well enough but we need a 'Heacham' performance at Huntingdon. They need to step up as a group and be counted."

Parson Drove: Ivanov, Garner, Calvert, Brown, Miller, Kendrick, Warren, Weaver-Pope (Crombie 83), Waumsley, West (Baker 83), Taylor. Sub (not used): Pilbeam.

Star man: Harrison Taylor - kept running all afternoon and didn't lose his head as some of his team mates did.