Tadcaster Albion boss Mick O'Connell slams 'embarrassing' defending during Emley AFC defeat

Despite taking an early lead through Oli Norman's sixth goal of the season, the Brewers were soundly beaten in the end in a game that was significantly delayed due to a serious leg injury suffered by visiting player James Walshaw.

And while the Albion boss was quick to stress that player welfare should always take priority over the outcome of a game of football, he was unable to hide his frustration when asked about how his players performed.

“We started negatively, we were on the back foot, we were too deep, we didn’t want to break out of our shape,” O’Connell said.

"We knew where we could exploit weaknesses and that was across their inexperienced back-line. Every time we pressed the ball properly we pinched the ball high up the pitch.

"But I just think we showed them too much respect and sat off them too much, so then every time they went forwards they looked like creating and scoring.

"The goals we conceded were really poor. We’ve got to deal with the first one and the third one better, the fourth one is highly embarrassing and the fifth came against the run of play when we were throwing bodies forward trying to restore some kind of pride.

"You can get caught on the break, that can happen in football, but some of those goals were unacceptable.”

Saturday’s result saw Tadcaster drop to 17th place in the NCEL Premier Division standings.