Mick O'Connell left disappointed again as Tadcaster Albion lose out at Rossington Main

Tadcaster Albion conceded two late goals on their way to a 4-2 loss at Rossington Main. Picture: Craig Dinsdale

The Brewers boss demanded that his side were "braver" after watching them almost surrender a three-goal lead against Knaresborough Town in their previous NCEL Premier Division outing.

And he was left to rue similar failings at the weekend, as another timid second-half display saw them slip to an eighth defeat in 15 league outings this term.

Two-nil down after half-an-hour, Albion rallied and got themselves back on terms before the interval thanks to Dan Thirkell's brace.

Tadcaster Albion manager Mick O'Connell. Picture: Gerard Binks

But O'Connell felt that Taddy "dropped off" during the second period rather than continuing to do the things that had enabled them to fight their way back into the contest, eventually conceding twice late on.

"To be fair, for the first 10 minutes, we were awful," the Irishman said.

"We looked like we had no belief, that we shouldn't have been on the same pitch as Rossington, and I've no idea why, it's just mindset.

"After that, I thought we were excellent. We conceded two sloppy goals, but did really well to get back into the game and were well worthy of that.

"I said to the lads at half-time 'stay on the front foot, keep doing the right things', but just like we did against Knaresborough last week, we dropped off, we were too deep and weren't brave enough.

"I've told them that we won't win games of football playing like that, you've got to stay on the front foot and be brave, but second half we weren't brave enough, again."

Albion, who remain 14th in the table, entertain high-flying Thackley this Saturday, 3pm kick-off at Ings Lane.