Leese ‘absolutely fuming’ as Poppies slump to a second defeat in a row

Just as they were in the opening game of the campaign at Stamford, the Poppies were in front in their first home match of the season as goals from Sam Bennett and Tyrone Lewthwaite put them 2-0 up against Stourbridge in front of a big crowd of nearly 900 at Latimer Park.

But Stourbridge pulled a goal back before half-time and then ran in three unanswered strikes in the second period to make it two wins from two.

And Leese didn’t hold back in his assessment of his team’s second-half defending.

“I am fuming, absolutely fuming,” the Poppies boss said.

“I have read the riot act in there, it’s a totally unacceptable second-half performance.

“We have lost a half of football 3-0 and to not lay a glove on them defensively is totally unacceptable.

“And I have told them they won’t be playing for me very long if that’s what I am going to get.

“The first-half performance and the first five to 10 minutes of the second half were great but, after that, it was totally, totally unacceptable.

“I’ve no idea what happened. It’s individuals but collectively it’s not good enough in the second half.

“We changed shape to try to get something out of it but it was to no effect again and it just shows me that the strength, depth and quality of the squad just isn’t there.

“I knew that and we have to do something about it. We just couldn’t fashion chances in that last 15 or 20 minutes.

“I am just astounded at what I have seen in the second half.

“It’s not what I saw in pre-season and it’s not what I see in training.

“It seems that once under a bit of pressure, we buckle.

“I have gone through the goals and there were some individual errors that were just not acceptable.”

The Poppies now have a quick turnaround as they head to Barwell on Monday night (7.45pm kick-off) in search of their first points of the season.