Blues' play-off hopes are a distant dream
GAINSBOROUGH Trinity's faint play-off hopes were all but ended after an embarrassing home defeat at the hands of Burscough.
Trinity's home form this season has seen them only win four times at the Northolme – and this was by far the worst display served up to the home support.
The Blues went down to a first half double from Ryan Wade, while second half strikes from Peter Heler and Michael Yates condemned Trinity to their worst home defeat this season.
Steve Charles was forced to make one change to the side beaten by Tamworth last week, as Lee Canoville made his home debut in place of James Lukic.
But it was The Blues who started the brightest, and once again had a goal harshly ruled out.
Neal Spafford met Ashley Burbeary's near post corner, but as the ball hit the back of the net, the referee's whistle sounded for some pushing in a very crowded area.
Luke Beckett was unable to meet Chris Hall's cross from the left, but it proved to be a false dawn as the visitors took the lead on 20 minutes, when Wade pounced on the ball after Adam Sollitt spilt it as he came to claim a long clearance on the edge of the box.
Wade reacted quickest and turned quickly on the ball to fire the Linnets ahead.
Wade doubled their lead on 36 minutes, when he was allowed to move into the area unchallenged.
He then unleashed a powerful shot that somehow managed to go through Sollitt, and the Northolme fell silent.
Things could have been worse for Trinity when Burbeary lost the ball to Wade, who drove forward with pace and skill.
His shot from 20 yards was well saved by Sollitt, and Charles was prompted to sacrifice Ross Greenwood for Colin Marrison before the break in an effort to get something from the game.
The second half saw the weather take a turn for the worse, and looked like Trinity's best hope was to see the game abandoned.
Trinity began the half with a succession of corners, none really troubling Steve Dickinson in the Burscough goal.
Michael Yates then wrapped up the points with a shot from just inside the box that took a deflection over Sollitt (55).
Some fans took this as their exit cue, while other began to wonder how many goals would be conceded.
Those who chose to brave the now relenting elements saw a static Trinity defence wait for an offside flag that never came.
This allowed Burscough to create some space for Heler to fire into the bottom right from the corner of the box.
The fourth goal seemed to encourage The Blues to push on, and Beckett wasted a chance when clean through, while Liam Needham hit the bar from six yards after Ryan Mallon pulled the ball back for the Trinity sub.
Needham also saw a header go wide late on, but the evening's performance was as poor as the weather, and Trinity's play-off hopes were washed away with the rain.
As Trinity fans began their own inquest, Steve Charles was brutally honest about his side's poor performance.
He said: "We were absolutely shocking;, I can't really offer an explanation."
"We've made bad decisions all over the pitch and the goals in the first half are shocking. Adam Sollitt knows those are his bread and butter."
The Trinity boss also questioned the disallowed goal, the second in successive games.
"I thought we started quite well, but those sorts of decisions change games," he added.
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Weather for Gainsborough
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
