div>The second warm-up game for the 2s started off ominously as it took until Friday afternoon to confirm a full team, of which one would have to play 1s beforehand (and it was only the last-minute availability of semi-retired Manu Bhardwaj that kept doubling-up to one player). With a few new faces in the team, it was hardly surprising that the visitors started out of the blocks better than we did. One of the earliest attacks saw the Stortford attackers respond faster to ‘keeper Shahbaz Ali’s save and slot in an easy goal. Scant minutes later, 16’ hits proved - yet again - to be our Achilles heel. Having made some room to receive Colin Troll’s hit, skip Ron Oren promptly fluffed up his stop, handing ball, room and opportunity to a pouncing attacker. The latter didn’t want to seem ungrateful and quickly dispatched the ball behind virtually powerless Shahbaz. Two-nil down within 10 minutes, the home side finally woke up and started stringing passes together. Hard work by Alasdair Edge and Tom South on the wings, combined with some solid work of Dom Nelson, Tim Clapp and Ron in midfield saw the play work its way more and more towards Stortford’s goal. Soon enough the pressure starting telling on the Stortford defence, forcing them to concede a string of short-corners. After a few abortive attempts, a good shot allowed Rob Barton to nip in before anyone else and bag his own rebound-goal. Heartened, the team pushed forward to find an equaliser, but didn’t manage to convert anything before half-time. In the second half, a star-cameo of newly promoted Rich Claes injected some more pace and skill into the attack. Nevertheless, it was the visitors again that scored first: a short corner was slickly deflected near the post, leaving both Shahbaz and his defenders flummoxed. But South had found their confidence for a reason and refused to let their heads drop - wave after wave of little green men swarmed into the Stortford half. Again, the pressure told: this time, there was no need for Rob to nudge the ball home, as Colin struck a beautiful dipping shot to pass the goalie.  Now, we had the bit between our teeth and went hunting for that equaliser with a vengeance. As even wingbacks Tom Anns and Jan Brynjolffssen ventured into opposition territory, it was only bad luck that kept us from finding the net again. Unfortunately, this also left us more exposed in the back, especially as the midfield started to run out of steam. Once again, the visitors capitalised with a short corner, this time finding just enough room under Shahbaz’s kickers to slip a ball through and restore their two-goal lead.  As the minutes ticked away, it became clear that South lacked the fitness to mount further attacks, even if the will to fight was most certainly still there. To add insult to injury, Stortford felt the need to score one more goal, literally in the last second of the match; although, to be fair to them, it was a beauty of a shot... Although this was not the result, or performance, that we want to see in the league, there are some positives to take home. The team played a lot better than last week and showed some good fighting spirit. There’s still much to improve on - fitness, skills, team play; but the promise is there.