Brady Stone has slammed his players after they shipped a last-minute goal to go down 2-1 to lowly Fakenham Town last night.

The Robins had looked certain to bring a point back to East Cambridgeshire after captain Ash Walter netted 18 minutes from time but a late strike from Kyle Plumb sent Stone’s men to their second defeat of the season – and he was far from impressed with his side’s performance.

“We were poor from start to finish,” Stone said. “We just didn’t turn up.

“They bullied us and looked hungrier than us. We didn’t move the ball well and we gave another terrible goal away at the end.

“Losing that game means we’ve had a bad month. I had words with the players after the game and told them they need to start being men and grow up because if we can’t go to places like Fakenham and get a result then we are going to struggle this season.

“I sent a message to the lads this morning telling them to move on from the defeat but games like that are ones we should be expecting to win.

“I honestly think we can beat anyone in this league but if we play like we did last night then we will be down towards the bottom of the table.”

Stone has now challenged his men to respond in their next fixture – a home meeting with Stowmarket Town on Saturday (3pm).

The Gold and Blacks have spent big this summer – bringing in signings like former Newcastle United defender Titus Bramble – but Stone believes his side have enough quality to overcome their old Thurlow Nunn Division One rivals.

“Stowmarket are a new team in the division but are more like a Step Four team having brought in the players they have done,” Stone said.

“But if we work hard and put on a performance I know we’re capable of then we can definitely beat them. As I said before, we could beat anyone in this league but we just need to iron out the silly mistakes and find some consistency.”