Kestrels dealt sucker punch in double disappointment

WOODLEY UNITED suffered double disappointment with league defeats on both Saturday and Monday.

The Kestrels went into the weekend buoyed by sealing their spot in the Berks and Bucks quarter-finals and very nearly left in-form Windsor with a point.

Former Premier League striker Barry Hayles gave Windsor the lead after just eight minutes when the 45-year-old showed neat skill on the edge of the box before finishing well.

Elliott Woodham missed a good chance to double the tally before Woodley had their best spell of the half when Toby Briggs set up Callum SamuelHarman, but his shot was blocked.

Jaydyn Englefield and Hayles both missed chances before the break and the visitors levelled up the contest before the hour mark when Briggs held off his man and fired in off the post.

And Woodley were given further encouragement when Windsor were reduced to 10 men as Woodham was shown a straight red card for a foul on Briggs.

James Anderson’s men had chances to take all three points but were dealt a sucker punch in stoppage time when Luke Brooks-Smith smashed home from the penalty spot to earn Windsor a 2-1 victory.

And things got no better at Rivermoor on Monday evening.

Woodley began well against struggling Burnham with Michael Porter seeing a header cleared off the line in the opening couple of minutes.

But the visitors grew into the contest with Alex Reed the busier goalkeeper.

And Burnham opened the scoring on 34 minutes when a through ball found Jordan Dowdican, who powered his shot into the bottom corner.

Briggs headed in shortly after the restart, but was denied by a linesman’s flag.

And two minutes later, Woodley were 2-0 down when a long ball over the top found Dowdican, who was taken down by Reed.

The forward stepped up himself and struck the resulting penalty high into the net, despite Reed diving the right way.

Anderson switched to a back three to try and find a way back into the game, but it proved fruitless.

Woodley, who now sit 14th in the table, host 15th-placed Lydney Town on Saturday (3pm).