Last-minute strike sinks gutsy Santos

GO FOR IT . . . Roufaye Aidara makes a break for Santos.

Santos 2, Bury Amateurs 3

A LAST-minute goal denied Santos a share of the spoils with Bury Amateurs in Division ‘A’ of the Lancashire and Cheshire League at Oldham Academy North.

The absence of regular goalkeeper Louis Murphy meant Mark Brennan - normally a defender - had to take over between the posts.

Santos led 2-1 from the 40th minute, but as legs visibly tired in the final quarter, Bury took advantage with two late strikes.

This season has seen Santos drop several levels from Division One following a shake-up of the club which has seen 36-year-old Keith Kurpass take over as first-team manager.

Like AFC Oldham in the same league, the drop has given the club a chance to take stock, re-form and hopefully win a few more games than last season.

Results so far have been encouraging, with Santos in the top half of a competitive division.

But Kurpass will be disappointed with the defeat after his half-time team talk stressed the need to take chances as they came.

Santos had a raft of goalscoring opportunities – all of them spurned – so defeat came as a huge disappointment.

The game took place in bad conditions: the rain belted down incessantly for the entire 90 minutes. But despite the atrocious conditions, both sides contributed some often-neat passing football.