Biggleswade 4-0 Yaxley

The first half-hour of this match can be best described as uneventful, with both teams failing to make the ball stick up front and hence being unable to produce any chances at all. The only threat either team could provide was from set pieces, which were also few and far between for the most part. However, Biggleswade gained the advantage in the 37th minute when a hopeful long ball over the top saw us give away a penalty: Dalton Bettles' header to Aaron Butcher was weak and the attacker picked up the ball, with Butcher diving and bringing him down in a desperate attempt to stop the attack. Alex Marsh stepped up to take the penalty and calmly chipped over Butcher to score.

The first half was poor - we failed to produce a meaningful chance and gave away a penalty and goal from almost nothing - but Biggleswade hadn't been that great either, so we had hope that we could make the comeback. However, this hope only lasted eight minutes into the half, as Biggleswade doubled their lead through Lawrie Marsh after he rose highest to head in from a corner. Things then got even worse three minutes later when defender Cameron Baldock-Smith was sent off for a two-footed challenge and gave away a penalty: as before, Alex Marsh stepped up and chipped over Butcher to score. Biggleswade's fourth came in the 68th minute through what looked like an own goal, but has officially been given to Sean McMonagle. The rest of the game saw Biggleswade dominate without doing anything meaningful, seeing out the game without having to work very hard at all.

To be blunt, this Yaxley performance was unacceptably bad, the lack of fight, leadership and overall quality being concerningly reminiscent of our 6-1 defeat away at Kidlington last season. The first half wasn't great, but it's the second half that was more concerning: a few key players were missing (two to holidays and one to a suspension), but that doesn't excuse the complete lack of fight and desire shown in the second half. However, it does raise a concern that we lack any sort of strength in depth this season, with one or two of the young back-up players looking hopelessly out of their depts. We'll also need more tactical flexibility than we showed here, as we made no changes until it was already too late, even though it should have been clear by half-time that the tactical system was not working.

An immensely disappointing FA Cup exit for the second season running, but there's not much point dwelling on it, with the two teams meeting again in the league on Monday. Instead, all we can do is move on and hope to put it right in that home game on Monday.