Kipling looking to lift spirits at Worthing United

Mavericks saw an early lead come and go as they suffered a 2-1 defeat in their SCFL Division 1 relegation battle at Midhurst & Easebourne on Saturday.

Basement boys Mavericks knew a win would have taken them above Stags.

Instead it was Midhurst who climbed a place courtesy of the three points, leaving Worthing United four points adrift of Southwick at the foot of the table.

With just eight league matches to play United find themselves in a precarious position and manager Kipling is keen to quickly lift his team after a sixth defeat in seven matches.

“Obviously everyone connected with the club was disappointed with the result,” Kipling said.

“We all knew the importance of this particular fixture, but for a number of reasons we just didn’t get what we needed on the day.

“As expected, all the players involved felt down afterwards and it shows this current squads determination to do well.

“Our job is to now try and raise the squads spirits for Saturday and the rest of the season.”

Reecce Tanner got United off to a dream start, firing them ahead inside four minutes. It looked as though that would be enough to see them into the break leading, only for Mark Broughton to level in the fourth minute of first half stoppage-time.

The turnaround was complete 20 minutes from time when Gary Norgate got what proved to be the winner.

But Kipling insists his team are improving and claims struggles to pick up results are a more deep-rooted problem than just the eight games he’s taken charge of.

“Realistically the team has struggled to obtain results for some time now, this latest defeat is entirely consistent with what has gone before over the past two to three years,” Kipling said.

“Despite this defeat, as a management team, we will continue to insist the players representing this club compete to the very best of their individual and collective capabilities.

“I believe that this current squad is progressing and better in many ways than what we inherited.”

Mavericks host Hailsham Town on Saturday.

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