90 seconds of madness cost us, says Peters

Norstar top-scorer Josh Green registered for the home side.

Norstar manager Phil Peters told JC Sport: "But for a 90-second lapse of concentration in the first half, the boys performed fantastically and were a credit to themselves and the club.

"Our second half performance was one of our best of the season and we deserved something more from the game - Dan Lee's remarkable finger-tip save from Simon Perlmutter's shot denying is what would have been a great point.

"Redbridge played some decent football and the movement of their front two will cause any defence a lot of trouble - please god they've retired by the next time we play them!

"So many games this season we've lost by these tiny margins and whilst frustrating if we do end up going down we'll be much better prepared for next time.

"At least if that happens I won't have to face opposition managers standing next to me and calling my assistant a cheat as he does the thankless task of running the line - Eilon should know better than that with all his experience.

"Onwards and upwards - now we're looking forward to locking horns with Ric and Oakwood again. They seem to have got quite good since we did the double over them last season but we'll give it a go as usual and see what happens."

RJC boss Eilon Kennet told JC Sport: "It was not a pretty game, with the boggy pitch more like a sponge than a football pitch, which made it impossible to play football of any quality on it.

"Despite the conditions, we did enough to get the result, but full marks to Norstar who were always behind, but never gave up.

"What a pity, Phil's assistant, who ran the line, spoiled the game by flagging every single attack off-side.

"The most generous comment I can make, is that he may not fully understand the off--side rule.

"This apart, good luck to Phil and his boys in their relegation struggle."

Responding to Kennet's comments, Norstar assistant-manager Jamie Slavin told JC Sport: "It's often a wonder what motivates managers and assistants to stand on the touchline on freezing Sunday mornings in January. Luckily my motivation is interacting with complete plonkers and so it was a pleasure to be accused of cheating by Redbridge's answer to Avram Grant on Sunday.

"It was a good game played in great spirits, but clearly he felt the need for some attention. When even his own subs laughed at his allegations of foul play you would have assumed he'd have swallowed his pride and apologised to me but instead he's decided to make a fool of himself on the pages of a communal newspaper."

Kennet responded: "Clearly i was mistaken, Jamie does know the offside rule. He just cheats.

"I'll take the Avram Grant comparison as a complement."