We suffered a devastating 5-4 defeat against Parkside at St Francis Barker Recreation Ground this afternoon, as a dramatic second half saw a two-goal advantage slip away from our grasp, before the hosts struck a late winner.

It was a difficult start to the afternoon, with Parkside taking the lead inside the opening five minutes through Lake-Benjamin. However, a positive response followed, and new signing Ryan Lewis soon brought the Baggies level with his first goal for the club.

The visitors continued to grow into the contest, with Mal Thomas going close to completing the turnaround after unleashing a thunderous effort that flew narrowly over the crossbar.
Despite an encouraging response to the early setback, the sides went into the interval level at 1-1.

The second half began in perfect fashion, as Mason Slade found the net within five minutes of the restart to put us 2-1 ahead.
That advantage lasted just two minutes, however, as Parkside hit back to restore parity with Lake-Benjamin netting his second of the game.

In a frantic six-minute spell, the Baggies responded once again, with Khalid restoring the lead to make it 3-2 in an increasingly entertaining encounter.
With momentum firmly on our side, the advantage was extended shortly after the hour mark when Lewis grabbed his second of the afternoon, completing an impressive brace and putting Bagshot in a commanding 4-2 position.

At that stage, all three points appeared to be heading back with the Baggies, but the hosts had other ideas.
With 20 minutes remaining, Parkside pulled a goal back to reduce the deficit to 4-3 and set up a nervy finish.

The hosts then capitalised on a failure to clear our lines, punishing a defensive mistake to bring the scores level at 4-4 and giving Lake-Benjamin his hat trick. It completely shifted the momentum of the contest.
Having looked in control with a two-goal cushion, we were suddenly facing a battle to take anything from the afternoon.

There was to be one final twist, and unfortunately it went the way of the hosts. With just minutes remaining, Parkside struck for a fifth time to complete a remarkable comeback and leave us empty-handed.
It was a bitterly disappointing conclusion to an afternoon that had promised so much, with plenty of attacking quality on display, but defensive lapses ultimately proving costly.

A debut brace for Lewis, alongside goals from Slade and Khalid, provided positives to take from the performance, but the focus now turns to responding in the next fixture.

#UpTheBaggies