Fakenham Tn 1, Saffron Walden 3

Fakenham boss Wayne Anderson was left puzzled by some refereeing decisions on Saturday – but is confident his side’s luck will soon turn.

The Ghosts saw an early lead slip away in the Thurlow Nunn League First Division clash as they had a goal disallowed and visitors Saffron Walden were awarded a controversial penalty.

Anderson said: “The scoreline does not reflect the game. I think we are still having problems with referees.

“Kristian Jones had a goal disallowed – when I looked at the linesman he was running back to the halfway line, he had given the goal. But the referee said it was a clear foul. That would have made it 2-1 to us and it might have been a different game.

“Then he gave a penalty against us when none of their players were even claiming it. From there, every decision seemed to go against us.”

Anderson was still heartened by the display of his depleted side: “They are near the top of the table and we had five or six players missing, but we didn’t look out of place and the boys can take a lot of credit,” he said. “We had some under-18s on the bench and a couple of them came on and did themselves proud.

“But football is about putting the ball in the back of the net and we are struggling to do that. With my hand on my heart I would say we have had the best of the 90 minutes in the games we have played and when you are creating eight or nine chances it tells you something about the players you have. I’m sure that before long it will turn for us.”

Fakenham face Thurlow Nunn Premier side CRC in the FA Vase on Saturday at Cambridge United’s R Costings Abbey Stadium.

Anderson is confident his side will rise to the occasion: “We played St Ives in the FA Cup and we did not disgrace ourselves – we lost 1-0 and we had chances to equalise,” he said.”

“I’ll have a nice headache on Saturday because I’ll have players back and a near full squad to choose from, so you never know, there could be an upset.”

A thunderstorm delayed the kick-off on Saturday, but the Ghosts made the perfect start as Ben Boyce opened the scoring after just two minutes.

The lead was shortlived, however, as a heavy challenge on Kristian Jones went unpunished and as play continued, Saffron Walden equalised on 12 minutes.

Jones’ goal was disallowed and Walden struck twice shortly before half-time. They went ahead from the penalty spot and then a rebound fell kindly for a Walden player on the edge of the area and he hammered the ball home.

Jake Wiseman came on for his Fakenham debut in place of the injured Alex Walpole as the Ghosts trailed 3-1 at half-time.

Fakenham were offered a route back into the game with 10 minutes remaining. Liam Somerton was fouled in the area, but James Page’s spot-kick was well saved.