PHIL Parkinson pulled no punches as he reflected on a 2-0 defeat at Yeovil Town and described it as Altrincham’s worst performance of the season.

After a disjointed first half in which neither side threatened a breakthrough, Yeovil stepped it up and capitalised on a rare Alty off-day with goals from two of their substitutes, Rhys Murphy and Chris Dagnall.

Centre-back Tom Hannigan was the only one to escape a blunt appraisal from Parkinson, as the Alty boss said: "At some point, you’re going to have a dip in form, but unfortunately it wasn’t just a case of one or two being below par.

“There was only Tom who came out with any credit or hit anywhere near the levels expected. It is a team game, and we really let ourselves down.

“It’s the worst we have played all season. We looked like a part-time team. We looked a bit jaded, like we didn’t have ideas or a player to take the game by the scruff of the neck. We were really poor, and everyone feels a bit ashamed of themselves.

“We didn’t play well enough even to compete with Yeovil. I told the players at half-time they had to improve their decision-making and quality of passing or at least make it difficult for them to beat us.

TUSSLE: Alistair Smith challenges for the ball

TUSSLE: Alistair Smith challenges for the ball

“But we weren’t good enough in possession or out of possession. It is bitterly disappointing, but you can count on the fingers of one hand how many times this has happened to us in the last few years. We have been on a good run, and the lads aren’t robots.

"There will be a dip in form from time to time, but when you’re not playing as well as you can do, you have got to make yourselves difficult to beat.

“We didn’t get it right and it was a bit of a kick up the backside and perhaps a reminder we shouldn’t get too carried away when we win a few. We have come a long way, but you still have to accept it sometimes when you get a setback like this.”

A Future Robins initiative, aimed at distributing free tickets among local schools, is being incorporated into live coverage of this Saturday’s home game against Boreham Wood. Details of how to access the stream can be found at www.altrinchamfc.com.