Beeston FC fell to a disappointing 2-1 defeat to AFC Top Valley at Eagle Valley on Saturday afternoon. Jack Wilkinson’s second-half penalty was cancelled out by two Top Valley goals in quick succession as they maintained their unbeaten run from last season.

Following last week’s draw with West Bridgford AFC, Beeston started brightly with forwards Lee Fowler and Tom O’Regan looking lively. Thirty minutes in and Beeston playmaker Ben Knight started to put his stamp on proceedings, with his long-range strike landing straight into the hands of the Top Valley keeper, before his whipped corner found the head of Dan Rowley who couldn’t divert on target.

With ten minutes of the half remaining, Lee Fowler came close to opening his account for the season after his 1v1 effort from a tight angle flew over the bar, having been released in behind down the left.

Beeston came into the half-time break having dominated large portions of the game against their high-flying opponents, creating chances but having nothing to show for their strong performance.

Beeston’s first-half momentum carried forward into the second, with Fowler once again causing problems for the Top Valley back-four. Skipper Wilkinson’s chipped ball over the top beat the Valley defence, allowing Fowler to race through and round the keeper with his first touch, but he rolled it just wide from a very tight angle.

Three minutes later, and the game was beginning to open up, with Top Valley threatening the Beeston goal. It was Wilkinson involved again, clearing off the line to keep the scores level after goalkeeper Adam Hingeley’s clearance fell straight to Top Valley.

Ten minutes into the half, and Beeston finally had the opener they deserved. Fowler chased down what seemed like a lost cause in the Top Valley penalty box, drawing a foul and winning a penalty that skipper Wilkinson coolly converted to give Beeston the lead.

Almost immediately, Beeston could have doubled their advantage after Ben Knight’s out-swinging corner was flicked onto Dane Wakefield at the back-post, with Top Valley this time clearing off the line after the Beeston centre-back’s powerful volley across goal.

Just a minute later and Top Valley equalised from a penalty after ‘keeper Hingeley was adjudged to have brought down the Valley forward, and almost straight from the kick-off the Valley took the lead, winning the ball high and curling into the top right-hand corner from outside the box. A chaotic seven minutes containing three goals and two goal-line clearances.

Immediately after Top Valley took the lead, Beeston came close to equalising. Ben Knight’s free-kick was met by the head of Fowler, but his effort was saved well by the Valley ‘keeper in the top corner.

Manager Josh Streeter introduced substitutes Tom Coupe, David Daminabo and Shaun Turney in an attempt to salvage an equaliser, but Beeston’s efforts fizzled out as Top Valley continued their 100% start to the season.

Manager Josh Streeter:

“Overall, I think we were the better team, we had five minutes of madness and it cost us the game. I think there are a lot of positives to take, we outplayed them for most of the game but unfortunately again we didn’t take our chances and that’s something we need to work on”

“We’re doing 95% of things right, we’re just not scoring enough goals to kill games off. We will get there.”

Captain Jack Wilkinson:

"We really should have come away from the game with three points but we didn't take our chances and we got punished. We were the better team throughout the game with all of the possession."

"The lads know where we went wrong so we will carry this into next week and hopefully get back to winning ways."

"We need to be ruthless against teams if we're serious about promotion this season."