Buntingford Town 1 Park Street 2 TWO goals in a sloppy 10 minutes cost Buntingford as they slipped to their second league defeat of the ­season. With both teams occupying the top two positions at the start of play it was always going to be a close game.

Buntingford Town 1 Park Street 2

TWO goals in a sloppy 10 minutes cost Buntingford as they slipped to their second league defeat of the ­season.

With both teams occupying the top two positions at the start of play it was always going to be a close game.

Manager Paul Attfield said: "Our performance was as good as any this season, but for the 10 minutes of madness in the second half.

"We just switched off after the interval and our lapse in concentration is a massive concern."

Luke Robins and Tom Malins were again a constant threat out wide and created Town's best chances.

Robins and Liam Beaumont both went close in the early stages, with Malins and Will Turl forcing the ­visiting keeper to make two great saves.

The home side deservedly took the lead 10 minutes before the break, when Robins directed a 16-yard header into the top corner of the Park Street net.

However, in the second half a different Town emerged and with an uncharacteristic drop in work rate allowed Park Street to gain control.

And within three minutes the ­visitors had levelled when a long free kick was nodded down with a Park Street striker converting unmarked from close range.

They almost took the lead with a header and another close range effort, before they eventually grabbed a second when a crossfield pass was slid home from 10 yards.

Town did wake up, but it was too late, though Malins went close with a free header, and Beaumont, Conor De Lacy, and Turl saw efforts come to nothing.

John Bitting hit the bar with a powerful strike as Buntingford searched for an equaliser, but as their heads dropped, so did the points.

Attfield said: "Most of the goals we have conceded this season have been down to collective or individual lapses in concentration.

"Ultimately, all the effort put into this game has been wasted through 10 minutes of naivety on our part."

Buntingford Town: Williamson; Endacott (Easley), M Babbage, Cain, J Babbage; De Lacy, Beaumont, Bitting, Malins, Robins; Turl.