NEIL Sorvel was left rueing a rare show of defensive fallibility that condemned Altrincham to a ‘sickening’ 3-2 defeat to Workington in Evo-Stik Premier at The J.Davidson Stadium on Tuesday night.

Tom Peers capped a spirited second-half fightback with a double that hauled Alty level, but Workington struck again near the end to leave Sorvel reflecting on the cost of two early errors at the back.

"Those two we conceded in the first half were really poor, and if you can’t defend better than that, it’s difficult to see how you’re going to take anything out of the game," said Alty’s assistant manager.

"Their player was allowed to wriggle past two defenders for the first, and for the second, you should never be conceding from one long ball over the top.

"We can only hope that was a one-off.

"At half time, we told them how we thought it was and that John Johnston was the only player having any influence on the game.

"Jordan Hulme grew into it a bit as the half wore on, but there wasn’t enough from the full-backs going forward, we didn’t look secure enough at the back, the three in midfield weren’t moving the ball quickly enough or influencing the game enough and, bar JJ, we didn’t look a threat up top.

"From a character and togetherness point of view, though, we were really pleased with the response in the second half.

"They did everything asked of them, stayed patient and kept trying to do the right things, and only one team looked like winning after we got back to 2-2.

"We had ground them down, but unfortunately they hit us with a sucker punch, which was really disappointing.

"There were some heated debates and discussions in the changing room at the end, but that just shows these players care and the togetherness that exists within the group.

"Sickening though it was to lose like that, the positive was the way we played in the second half.

"Now we have to take that, and the lessons we learned, into Saturday’s home game against Stalybridge."