Boss left unhappy after seeing team fight back to level only to then concede in the 88th minute at the Mile End Stadium

Sporting Bengal United boss Imrul Gazi was left to rue his side’s lapse in concentration as their search for a first point since September 20 goes on following a 3-2 Essex Senior League loss to Barkingside at the weekend.

Gazi had seen his charges twice come from behind thanks to goals from David Vaughan and top goalscorer Oscar Mendes on his comeback, but were dealt a sucker punch late on when Michael Ogboin struck a late winner for Michael Walther’s side.

The Sporting Bengal boss was not a happy man though as their injury-hit squad couldn’t hold on for a late point to get themselves out of the ‘rut’ they find themselves in.

“That has been the story of our last six league games,” said Gazi. “We just seem to switch off and it is individual errors at crucial times in the game.

“We’ve come back and levelled to make it 2-2 against Barkingside – you take a point because you are in a rut and we have been stuck on 19 points for a while now.

“It would be something to build on but it’s an individual error from one of the more experienced players.

“Our stand-in skipper makes a great tackle but the ball ricochets into the path of their striker who places it nicely into the bottom right hand corner.

“There is very little you can do about it at the minute, we just need to get a bit of luck going our way, like it had been in the first 10 games.”

Despite the defeat there have been some signs of encouragement for Gazi, although he believes the players that have come in need to raise their game if they wish to stay in the side when the injury list does eventually begin to decline.

“No teams are playing us off the park and we have had opportunities to take things from the games and we are still creating chances.

“Although we are in a bit of a rut, every team will go through it at some stage during the season but now is time for some players to show some character and start being able to grind out some results.”

Gazi will be hoping his side can fare better on Saturday when they host FC Romania at the Mile End Stadium.