WOODLEY United have now gone 14 Hellenic League games without a win following their 3-0 defeat in their penultimate away Premier Division fixture of the season at Binfield last Friday, writes Dave Wright.

They remain third-from-bottom of the table, but, with eight of their remaining nine games at home, they still have a good chance of finishing out of the relegation zone.

And Binfield manager Roger Herridge believes United are capable of staying up.

“I think they are good enough to get the results that will stop them them going down,” he said.

“They deserve some credit, as they never gave up. Even when they were 2-0 down they kept on going and, if they had nicked a goal back, then who knows what might have happened.”

James Anderson’s side played well in the first half, with United holding their own against a side lying sixth in the table and beaten only once in their previous 15 league and cup games.

Woodley did, however, owe much to their towering centre-back Idris Kamara, who broke up many home attacks while winning his personal tussles with Binfield’s leading marksman, Ian Davies.

“There are not many better centre-halves in the league than Idris, he’s a big strong lad who would grace any side in the top six of our league,” said Herridge.

Skipper Kamara has stayed loyal to Woodley despite other clubs showing an interest in him. He has already turned down a chance to join Flackwell Heath, whose manager, Marcus Richardson, was among the 127 crowd last Friday.

But Kamara and Co’s resistance was finally ended six minutes into the second half when they failed to pick up Davies as he raced onto a right-wing cross from Carlo Santoro to fire past keeper Alex Reed.

It was Davies’ 17th goal of the season, which included the two he scored for Woodley when they defeated Binfield 3-2 at home in September. Just days later the striker switched clubs.

Woodley soon fell further in arrears when former Reading Academy player Santoro weaved his way through the defence from the right flank before beating Reed with a well-placed shot.

Binfield, who had made two substitutions at half time in order to switch to a more attacking formation, were now in command although Woodley were not far away from halving their deficit when Danny Horscroft sent a free-kick inches over the bar.

But their hopes of getting back in the game ended in the 71st minute when substitute Usman Lalustani finished off a smart move for the hosts’ third goal.

Woodley are still seeking their first league win since defeating Fairford 1-0 in October, however, they still have time to turn things around, especially as they now have eight successive home league fixtures – four of them on a Monday evening.

United’s Perpetua Press Floodlit Cup second-round tie against Windsor last Monday was postponed for a second time because the Rivermoor pitch was waterlogged.

This coming Saturday they are home to Brackley Town Saints in round two of the Bluefin Sports Supplementary Cup.