FC CLACTON boss Kieron Shelley insists his side are on the “right path” - and believes other teams are cottoning on to their improvement.

The Seasiders had been unbeaten in six Thurlow Nunn League matches prior to Friday’s 3-0 defeat at Coggeshall Town.

The hosts converted two second-half penalties to produce a scoreline that did not reflect the pattern of the game.

Shelley was disappointed to lose but buoyed by another positive performance.

“Teams don’t enjoy playing us anymore,” he told the Gazette.

“Not so long ago they might have rubbed their hands at the prospect and seen us as an easy target.

“But not anymore.

“Now they’re left scratching their heads as to how they’re going to get anything against us, which, to me, is the biggest compliment.

“There’s a clear message rippling through the division that we’re on the right path and everyone is starting to see it.

“Friday was a case in point and the scoreline was very harsh on us.

“Coggeshall are a good side but they certainly didn’t play us off the park.

“We went there with a great attitude and confident in our ability to come back with something.

“The boys gave their all and on another day it could have been a very different result, because we produced a strong, solid performance.

“Coggeshall certainly knew they’d been in a game by the end of what had certainly been an end-to-end battle.

“Both sides played some good football and we matched them for 90 minutes.”

One-down at the break, Coggeshall netted two second-half penalties to produce what looked a comfortable scoreline.

Shelley had no problem with the award of the spot-kicks but felt his side should have been given free-kicks in the build-up on both occasions.

“Coggeshall took their chances, even if two of their goals came from the penalty spot,” he said.

“Both were penalties. I’ve seen replays and have no complaints about those decisions.

“However, on both occasions, I was disappointed that fouls on our players went unpunished.

“We should have had free-kicks both times and they were also fortunate to get a soft free-kick in the build-up to their first goal.

“That’s the way it goes, though, and you have to take it on the chin.

“We certainly didn’t roll over after their first goal.

“If anything, we played even better after falling behind and it would have been lovely to get some kind of reward for that.”

Clacton return to the Rush Green Bowl on Saturday for a home game against Great Yarmouth Town.

“Yarmouth are another hard-working hard that, much like ourselves, grind teams down,” added Shelley.

“They work hard for their gaffer but we’re up for the challenge.”