BINFIELD began their defence of the Hellenic League’s Floodlit Cup with a 3-1 win over Woodley United on Monday, but Roger Herridge was far from happy with his team’s performance, writes Dave Wright.

“Usually, I am not one to be harsh on my team, but I thought we were woeful on the night,” said the Moles’ manager.

“We were wasteful in the final third especially in the first half when we had some great opportunities. We were not clinical enough and our final ball was poor.

“If we were playing against a team from our own division, we would probably have got beaten.”

The Perpetua Press Cup holders were certainly given plenty of problems by their Division 1 East opponents in a tie that was switched to Hill Farm Lane after the pitch at Rivermoor had been deemed unplayable.

Yet, the game started promisingly for them. After Ian Davies had missed a real sitter, the Moles took a ninth-minute lead when Carlo Santoro waltzed through the Woodley defence, sweeping past three opponents before coolly slotting the ball wide of keeper Tom Bryant.

Ten minutes later, Bryant was beaten by Davies from the edge of the area, but the ball dropped over the bar and Binfield’s all-time leading scorer wasted another chance just before half-time.

Woodley had a couple of opportunities to equalise, with Max Lashock being denied by a double save from keeper Chris Grace.

United also had arguably the best player on the pitch in Spaniard Pablo Fernandez, an attacking midfielder who was involved in most of his side’s attacks, but they, too, struggled in front of goal.

It came as something of a surprise when Binfield scored twice in as many minutes to put the game beyond Woodley’s reach.

Young substitute Jamie Mitchell pounced after Davies had seen his effort blocked in the 65th minute and two minutes later Davies fired low into the right corner with Bryant rooted the spot.

To their credit, United did not give up and pulled a goal back through Lashock on 78 minutes.

Herridge admitted: “In the end we were just good enough to win the game. But we were poor and we have got a bit of work to do if we are to start climbing up the table.

“If we win our games in hand we will be right up there in the table, but we will need to play far better than we did.

“We have also picked up a few more injuries and I may have to start looking to bring one or two new players in to strengthen the squad. I will certainly be looking to see who might be available.”

Binfield, whose home fixture with Ardley United last Friday was postponed due to a frozen pitch, are away to Holmer Green this Saturday