HARWICH and Parkeston boss Kieron Shelley took "so many positives” from his side’s Bank Holiday Monday defeat against Little Oakley.

Although bitterly disappointed to lose the Thurlow Nunn League first division south derby 2-1, he felt his players produced the better football and did the Shrimpers proud.

Jordan Heath scored their goal, from the penalty spot, but Greg Rodger, who had earlier put the Acorns ahead, grabbed a second-half winner for Matt Carmichael’s side.

“Oakley did a great job on us and everything that went in the air, they gobbled up,” said Shelley.

“They were on us every time we had the ball. Like a rash.

“In the first half I thought we dominated and controlled the game, doing well to get it back to 1-1.

“But in the second they were better than us.

“They set up well and knew what we were trying to do, in terms of playing out from the back.

“They played with three guys high up the pitch to squeeze us and stop us playing and credit to them for that.

“It didn’t stop us trying to play, though.

"We were brave and tried to play in the right moments.

“It was just a shame that the winning goal stemmed from our error, followed by another slice of bad luck.

“The same thing happened on Saturday, when a corner flew straight into our net, for Benfleet’s winner.

“This time, we played the ball into the wrong area at the wrong time, which led to the corner from which they scored.

“Even then the ball bounced off the post before falling to their player.

“But a draw would have been the right result and I’d have been happy with that, because although we dominated possession, we didn’t do enough to test their young goalkeeper.”

In addition to the collective effort of his players, Shelley felt there were excellent individual displays.

“Billy Coe ran himself into the ground, Joe Knight was full of heart and passion and Jordan Heath never stopped running,” he said.

“Ryan Heath was also immense and didn’t let his early mistake affect him.

“He was as cool as a cucumber and showed real character.

“Overall, we can take so many positives from the game and not least the way we tried to play football.

“I refuse for it to be any different and want to be known as a manager that gets his teams playing the right way.”