Whites slipped ever closer to the relegation trapdoor with a disappointing defeat at the hands of an uninspiring Heybridge Swifts side. I have still not seen a side that is clearly better than us in this league, however a poor performance left the Whites needing a long run of wins to get themselves out of trouble.

Craig Cloke failed a late fitness test, meaning Jude Sterling was recalled to the side, and he was surprisingly given the captains armband too. There was a relatively new face on the substitutes bench too, with Walid Matata given his chance to impress after a spell in the reserves.

The Whites had the worst start possible, as with only five minutes on the clock the referee set his stall out for an afternoon of poor decisions. He decided, with the help of his assistant, that seemingly Dean Readings had handled in the area, and Carl Griffiths stepped up to slot the penalty past Paul Hyde.

Heybridge were clearly still on a high after their impressive win over leaders Yeading last week, and seemed more up for it than the Whites. Minutes after taking the lead, Hyde was forced to push Mike Shinn’s effort round the post.

Chris Wright was forced to enter the field within the first 20 minutes for the second week running, as Matt Carruthers was substituted with a dead leg. The game then hit a bit of a lull, with both sides cancelling each other out, and the referee managing to get most decisions wrong.

After 37 minutes though, the home side got the important second goal. Dwayne Edwards collected the ball down the right touchline, and swung in a cross. However, it was miss-hit, and sailed over Hyde and into the net. The numerous travelling Whites were beginning to realise that their luck was not in again today.

However, Whites almost got a goal back moments afterwards. A Victor Renner cross from the left was deflected into Shane Hamshare’s path, but his shot went inches wide.

The half ended with ex-Margate striker Jean-Michael Sigere heading just over, and Stuart Maynard making a trademark bursting run and shooting over. But the score remained at 2-0 to the home side at the interval.

The second period continued in the same vein, with neither side creating many clear-cut chances, and it didn’t help that the referee was punctuating play with many free kicks. Armstrong and Maynard both had long-range shots for the Whites, but they failed to trouble the keeper unduly.

A flurry of substitutions aimed to change the game for both sides. Tom Hickman and Walid Matata replaced Dean Palmer and Shane Hamshare, and it almost had an immediate impact.

There were 69 minutes on the clock, and Jude Sterling launched a long-throw into the box. It fell to Armstrong to lay the ball off to Chris Wright, who whacked the ball home from 8-yards.

This silenced the cocky home fans, but it ended up being the final chance the Whites had. Heybridge were woken up by the goal, and could have increased their lead in the final ten minutes. Carl Griffiths was clean through on goal, but blazed over, and then as Whites threw men forward, gaps opened at the back.

Sigere got to the by-line and cut back for Mike Shinn, who forced Hyde into a good save, and then Dwayne Edwards hit the rebound over with an open goal.

The final act of the game was for the referee to continue to try to make a name for himself. Danny Braithwaite, booked earlier on in the game, attempted a tackle down the right touchline, and the referee decided to give him a second caution and the subsequent red card. Whites were forced to play the final minutes with nine men in effect too, as Chris Wright was hobbling around, but could not be replaced as all substitutes had been used.

This was not a good performance by the Whites, and they probably deserved to lose to a side that wanted the win more. However, as has been a regular occurrence throughout this season, the referee dictated the winners of the game with a series of terrible decisions. Who knows what may have happened had certain decisions been different, but saying this, there was not enough desire from the Whites today.