TAUNTON Town head of football Rob Dray felt his side “didn’t do themselves justice” in Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat to promotion rivals Metropolitan Police.

Two goals in three first half minutes put the visitors in the driving seat – Jack Mazzone broke the deadlock by firing home after a long throw wasn’t cleared, then Ethan Chislett picked out the top corner with a thunderbolt from 20 yards.

Town top scorer Rocky Neal halved the deficit early in the second half and it looked like game on, only for Mazzone to head home a corner unmarked to knock the stuffing out of the hosts.

Matt Wright had a goal disallowed for offside midway through the second period but in truth the visitors could have had more, Max Bradshaw hitting the post and seeing a further effort saved by Lloyd Irish.

Dray said: “We didn’t do ourselves justice today. We have to defend better than that.

“To give away two goals from set pieces is not good enough.

“It was Jekyll and Hyde – last week we did the basics so well but today we didn’t.

“We got back into the game but then let in another soft goal. You can’t do that at this level, they are good players.

“That’s an impressive home run we’ve let slip today, and to soft goals, which is frustrating.

“It wasn’t quite right today for whatever reason.”

Met Police have now done a convincing double over Taunton, having won 4-1 in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, but Dray does not believe this would affect Town if they meet again in the play-offs.

“One off games in the play-offs can be more of a lottery and it comes down to whoever turns up,” he said.

“We had a lot of good possession and territory today, got in some great areas but it didn’t fall for us. But you make your own luck and that’s what they did today.”

Weymouth now hold a seven-point advantage at the summit and are eight clear of Taunton.

“It will be very difficult to catch them now,” Dray admitted.

“We have to keep going and keep an eye on what we’re doing.

“We have to win four games and see what happens.”

Player ratings

Lloyd Irish – 6

Couldn’t do anything about any of the goals and kept the score down with some smart saves in the second half.

Pierce Mitchell – 5

Lacked his usual potency going forward and had a tough day defensively.

Shane White – 5

Struggled against Met Police’s dynamic front two and was replaced at half-time.

Josh Nelmes – 5

Made some good blocks and interceptions but Met Police created plenty of chances; as with the rest of the Taunton side, didn’t deal particularly effectively with the long throws.

Lewis Hall – 5

A Shanked cross into the Hamilton Park trees summed up a challenging first half – defended well at times but, on others, the Met got in behind too easily down his side.

Matt Buse – 5

Quiet game in the engine room for Buse, who was substituted on the hour.

Ollie Chamberlain – 5

Bundles of energy but not much in the way of end product.

Ryan Brett – 6

One of the few to try and get Town moving during that tricky spell in the first half.

Dan Sullivan – 5

Nothing quite came off for the frontman on a frustrating afternoon.

Matt Wright – 5

Showed his frustration by regularly barking at his teammates on a day where nothing quite dropped for the skipper, barring the assist for Neal’s goal.

Andrew Neal – 5

Got his customary goal and worked hard but was sloppy in possession at times - he and Wright were largely feeding off scraps as the long ball became the preferred option.

Subs:

Ben Adelsbury (for White, 45) – 5

Couldn’t stem the tide of chances for the visitors.

Shane Krac (for Buse, 61) – 5

The home debutant showed some useful touches but lacked a defined role – as a central player, did not provide the width Town were crying out for in the second half.

Craig Veal (for Hall, 73) – N/A