LUFFS 0 BLOXWICH 1 (26/10/02) LOUGHBOROUGH Football club find themselves on the brink, on the brink of being a good side, on the brink of stringing together a few wins but after last Saturday's narrow defeat on the brink of the relegation places. This result just wasn't fair, after a first half of impressive football Loughborough should have scored at least three goals and had most of the play. At home for the first time in six weeks Loughborough looked to be enjoying a perfect playing surface and had the ex Doc Martens side Bloxwich Town very much on the back foot but how they regretted those missed first half chances as the Black Country visitors had one good chance to score and took it, shut up shop and took the bus and the points back to Walsall with not so much as a thank you very much. Leon Spencer and Mark Broomes both missing one on one chances with keeper Collins as The Luffs showed a better balance across the midfield and worked some good openings. Time and again crosses went in to test the big Bloxwich keeper Collins and although sometimes a tad unconventional he kept his sheet clean. Defender Mark Edwards had a good chance to score from a corner but his header went over the top and then powered a header against the post on the stroke of half time and no one was there to convert the chance into a goal. The second half saw Bloxwich come into the game a bit but still they didn't look capable of scoring but then it only took one break away. The high cross beat keeper Keeling but Stevenson cleared it off the line only for it to land at the feet of Hayward and the Bloxwich skipper volleyed it into the top corner. From then on Loughborough were chasing the game with even more urgency and Bloxwich showed they could defend this narrow lead till the cows come home if necessary. Broomes found the side netting then on came Loughborough's main striker Paul O'Callaghan back from injury but it wasn't to be his day. As if The Luffs hadn't got enough to cope with they found themselves playing referee Singh as well and looked decidedly miffed as he let Bloxwich spend a large proportion of the first half spoiling Loughborough impressive buildups with petty fouls without reaching for his card and then seemed to lose control in the second half and hit the home side with a barrage of yellow cards. O' Callaghan took a square pass from Broomes but lost the chance while Mould got a shooting chance only to hit it wide. A series of corners which could well have brought an equalizer were delivered into the waiting hands of keeper Collins, it was all very frustrating. Mark Dabney came on to make his debut for Loughborough and showed a few good touches in the time he was on and O'Callaghan had a header go wide and then lost his cool and received his marching orders for a second yellow card. While keeper Richard Keeling had not had a lot to do he did make a point blank save towards the end of the game as Loughborough pushed forward looking for that elusive goal. In the end Loughborough drifted to their third league defeat of the season by the single goal and herein lies the tale of a season which but for the odd goal here and there The Luffs could be contenders for promotion rather than an impending relegation battle. This Saturday Loughborough travel to the wilds of North Kilworth from the Leicestershire Senior League in the Leicestershire Senior Cup with the early kick off of 1.45 pm, it is not a trip to relish and the expression "banana skin" springs to mind. TEAM:  Richard KEELING, SCORERS:   ATT: N/A HT: 0-0