FOLLOWING an away win and a home defeat to launch their first ever Evo-Stik League campaign, Division One South Rainworth MW may now have a better idea of the challenge which faces them at their new level.

An Ant Lynam double gave Rudy Funk’s men a 2-1 winning start at Loughborough on Saturday, but on Tuesday night they fell 2-0 at home to North West Counties champions Newcastle Town.

But Funk, while heaping praise on a very good Newcastle side, insisted it was not a case of being brought back down to earth after their opening victory, and immediately after the match he made a point of lifting his troops in preparation for the coming weekend’s FA Cup trip to Brigg Town.

“We already knew what a good side Newcastle are,” he said. “They had a fantastic season last year, and look as if they will carry it on at the higher level – and the first thing we must do is to recognise that and give them all the credit they deserve, because we were beaten by a better side on the night.

“From our point of view, perhaps we needed to work a bit harder to close them down and make things more difficult for them.

“At this level you’ve got to take your chances – they had two and took them both, whereas in the first half their keeper made an extraordinary save to prevent Ant Lynam from scoring.

“I’m not disappointed, I just told the lads in the dressing room afterwards to get their heads up, and let’s go again in the FA Cup on Saturday. We know it will be difficult at Brigg, but we will enjoy it, we’ll work that bit harder, and we’ll hope we can achieve the result to carry us into the next round.”

The Wrens look set to travel to Brigg without right back Cameron Fearon, who was left limping badly when he suffered an accidental clash with Mark Hales as the keeper made a save from a corner.

But Funk added: “You expect injuries and that’s why you have to have a big squad at this level. I’ve told all the players that none of them should expect to figure in 42 league games, because the pace and the physicality in this league are very demanding. We have to cope with that, as we did last year which was why we were promoted.”

Nevertheless, even with a sizeable squad, a combination of injuries and work commitments meant that Funk had to pack his bench with four defenders and a goalkeeper against Newcastle, prompting the manager to point out: “You can only select according to the availability of your players.

“For instance, as far as our front line is concerned, we had Craig Mitchell and Aaron Moxon injured, and Jon Pickess away on a course for three days. But every team goes through these situations at some time and maybe in another week it could be us benefiting from a similar difficulty afflicting another club.

“But there are two things you will never see or hear from me. I will never blame injuries for defeat, and I will never allow any hint of negativity to creep in. You will only ever hear positives coming from the direction where I’m sitting.”

FA Cup details

A coach will travel to Brigg for Saturday’s FA Cup tie, leaving the ground at around 11am, and there will be a limited number of places for supporters. Anyone wishing to travel should contact Les Lee on 07740 576958.

Should the tie end in a draw, the replay will be on Tuesday night (7.45pm), which will mean the postponement of the Bank Holiday Monday local derby at Carlton Town – otherwise the match at Carlton will kick off at 3pm.

Reserves

Having made it two wins out of two with a 4-3 home success against Mickleover Sports on Saturday, Rainworth’s reserves dropped their first points of the season in a 1-1 draw at Dunkirk on Tuesday night.

For fans not travelling to Brigg this Saturday, the reserves are at home to Belper Town’s second string, and will be at home again on Tuesday night, to Graham Street Prims, provided that the first team do not require a Cup replay which would take precedence.