SOHAM boss Ian Benjamin, praised the effort of his players despite their 3-0 loss to high flyers Bury Town on Saturday (Jan 2). Though some sloppy defending saw the Greens concede three goals in just 11 minutes either side of half-time, Benjamin insisted

SOHAM boss Ian Benjamin, praised the effort of his players despite their 3-0 loss to high flyers Bury Town on Saturday (Jan 2).

Though some sloppy defending saw the Greens concede three goals in just 11 minutes either side of half-time, Benjamin insisted that he was satisfied with the effort and determination shown by his young side,

"I told the lads prior to the game that I wanted them to give it a real go and every one of them gave me 100 per cent on the day, I really can't fault them for that.

"Looking across the midfield I really don't think I would have swapped any of their players for ours, I thought we had the better of them.

"If we want to push on towards mid-table though we will have to give that bit extra to cut out the sloppy mistakes which are so frustrating."

A good turn and shot from Bury's Lee Reed struck a post in the opening minutes and the portents boded ill for Soham as the visitors looked to take command.

The fans' anxiety was short-lived however, as the Greens, fuelled by midfield pair Scott Carter and Michael Simpson, soon took control of the game and began to forge good chances of their own.

It was Simpson's ball that found Richard Gammon through on goal after 20 minutes only for the young striker to place wide with the keeper beaten. The scenario was repeated mere minutes later as Luke Hipwell found himself in a similar position only for the visiting keeper to make a good diving save.

The lively Reed had the ball in the back of the net just after the half-hour mark but the clamour of the large visiting crowd was soon quelled as the linesman signalled for offside.

A few minutes later it was the home crowd's turn to have their head's in hands as Scott Carter clattered the bar with a sweetly struck drive from outside the box.

For all their efforts though, Soham were unable to stop the visitors from storming into a two-goal lead minutes short of the half as Reed and Lee Underwood struck in a frenzied five-minute period.

Any hopes of a come-back after half-time were dashed just four minutes in as Sam Reed poked home from close range after a scramble in the box.

Despite a number of changes throughout the half to try and inject some impetus into Soham's play, the Greens were largely frustrated by the home defence, though Deaken Napier rattled the bar late on with a shot inside the box.