Chepstow slip to eighth defeat (From Free Press Series)

Chepstow slip to eighth defeat

Treowen 2 Chepstow Town 1

CHEPSTOW Town assistant manager Wayne Samuel has admitted he's at his wits end after watching his side slip to their eighth defeat of the season away at Treowen on Saturday.

And Samuel is even more disgruntled because he has no answers to the club's unexpected bad form after high hopes for promotion at the start of the campaign.

Those dreams now seem like a distant memory as Chepstow sink closer each week to a relegation dog fight.

Samuel though is hoping that threat inspires his men to take the ball by the horns and turn their season around.

"I never envisaged us being this low down the table. It's disappointing, but we're not going to throw our hat in because that will destroy our season," he said.

Town hadn't been helped by the loss of key midfielders Paul Sheppard and Carl Evans just an hour before the game due to work commitments. But Samuel said that was no excuse for the defeat.

Striker John Phillips got their only goal, but like so many times before the side struggled to find the momentum and killer instinct to grab the equaliser.

For Samuel the result has left him confused and dejected as he struggled to put his finger on just what is going wrong.

"I was disappointed with the result - big style. They are quite a committed side and we weathered the early storm, but just before half time there was a mix-up in defence and we gave away a cheap goal. In the second half we literally fell asleep for two minutes and let them score with a deflected shot.

"It's not an attitude or commitment issue it's just a case of us conceding silly goals. We hadn't played for five weeks so the players were a bit ring rusty. Nothing beats match fitness," he said.

Town face Newcastle Emlyn at home this Saturday and Samuel is hoping they do the double over their West Wales minnow following a 2-0 win earlier in the season.

"If we can win by a similar scoreline I'd be delighted."

The match kicks off at 2.30pm.