Cheadle Town 3-5 Eccleshall

<shrug of shoulders>

I honestly don't know what more we can do to try and win matches at the moment. The wise cracks amongst you may retort with "scoring might help!" but that doesn't help in the slightest, thank you very much. Take your unwanted "banter" elsewhere.

Accepting defeat is part and parcel of football but when you are in an elongated run of coming away from matches with nothing to show for it despite dominating and/or creating enough chances to run up a cricket score then it makes it that much harder to bear.

Eccleshall troubled our penalty area five times, giving them a rather admirable strike rate of 100% on the day and their first league win of the season.

They also bagged the quickest goal to be scored at Park Road this season, Mitchell Brown taking only a minute to collect a through ball on the right, getting past Ben Jupp and slotting home into an unguarded net. Chance number one.

We responded admirably. Sam Noar struck the foot of the post with a header on the 12th minute before we got the equaliser some five minutes later after Matt German refused to give up a lost cause on the right before squaring the ball across the face of goal for Mike Sherrington to tap home from close range.

Sam Noar then forced the Eccleshall keeper to smother from close range on 22 minutes, Thabiso Magida's turn-and-shot in the area squirmed just wide of the post two minutes later, Sam Noar saw a shot deflected wide after chaos in the Eccleshall defence before Rick Whyatt launched an effort into the proverbial Row Z with nobody around him.

On the 39th minute our relentless pressure told. Luke Pearson sent in a corner from the right and Matt German stole in ahead of his marker to emphatically nod home from close range.

On the stroke of half-time Eccleshall snatched an equaliser when Bennett was offered a free header from a corner from the right. Chance number two.

Seven minutes into the second half the visitors regained their lead.

We seemingly had umpteen chances to clear the danger in the area with the ball falling to the feet of Eccleshall's Wakefield who punished us by clipping an excellent effort over Jupp and into the far corner of the net. Chance number three.

Chris Sherrington was then introduced from the substitutes' bench which then heralded a manic twenty minutes where we tried to force an equaliser.

Chris and Liam Tongue combined well down the left-hand side to cross for Mike Sherrington to side-foot just wide from inside the box.

Mike Sherrington then tried his luck from distance with his brother Chris driving into the penalty box only to send his effort into somebody's garden on Tennyson Road when he looked set to score.

Liam Tongue then skied one of his specials from range before he got his head onto a corner at the far post only to see it hacked off the line...with Matt German then blasting the loose ball over.

Chris Sherrington then cut the ball across the face of goal with it flying just wide of the post before a drilled ball into the box got stuck under Mike Sherrington's feet and he just couldn't dig it out to bundle home.

With eight minutes of the match remaining we finally got the equaliser we richly deserved when Sam Noar's fierce drive from the edge of the box took a useful deflection on its way into the net.

Unfortunately the siege seemed to end there as the match then appeared to be drifting harmlessly towards a 3-3 draw, but, as stoppage time loomed, there would be one last twist as Matt German gave away a free-kick right on the edge of the area....

...a free-kick that was swept home by Shelley. Chance number four.

With all manner of green-shirted bodies committed up front, a breakaway for Eccleshall resulted in them sealing the victory with Wakefield the man over on the edge of the box; with his coaching staff screaming at him to "finish", he rifled the ball into the roof of the net. Chance number five.

Simply nothing more for me to say in terms of a round-up. I'm all out of banal platitudes at the moment.

Next up is the visit of Widnes on Wednesday evening. 7.45pm KO.

TEAM: Jupp, McLaughlin (Russell), Pearson (C Sherrington), German, Dunn, Shaw, Whyatt (Horan), Tongue, Noar, M Sherrington, Magida. SUBS: Piggott (gk), Horan, Russell, C Sherrington, Connolly.