March Town manager Mel Mattless believes his side put in a ‘decent performance’ despite their 3-0 defeat to promotion chasing Whitton United last Saturday.

The Hares held off a strong and well drilled Whitton outfit for the majority of the game, but their efforts were undone by two quick goals in the second half - the first from Franco Mallardo in the 71st minute and the second coming just two minutes later courtesy of Jamie Cole.

Josh Stevens sealed the three points for Whitton when he added a third goal three minutes from time, but Mattless belives it could have been a different story if his side had got their noses in front.

“If we had taken one of our chances and got ahead, we would have had something to hold on to and I think the result might have been different,” he said.

“Take nothing away from Whitton, they deserved the three points – even with ten men - but I thought we put in a decent performance for large parts of the game and the scoreline doesn’t really do us justice.

“They will be one of the three or four sides in the mix to go back up at the end of the season and you could see why. Once they got in front they killed us off.”

March are back in action tomorrow when they travel to second-placed Woodbridge Town (3pm) before welcoming Wisbech St Mary to the GER for a Boxing Day derby (11am).

The Hares chief admitted his side face difficult tests over the festive period and he will be forced to shuffle the pack due to players being unavailable.

Mattless added: “We have got two very tough games over the Christmas period, it certainly doesn’t get any easier for us.

“Woodbridge will be a real test. They are not sitting second in the table for no reason and games against Wisbech St Mary are always going to have an added edge because it is a local derby.

“It is not an easy time of year to be a manager. It looks like we will gain one for Saturday but lose two and we will have a couple of lads unavailable due to family commitments on Boxing Day.”

Home defeat didn’t do Hares justice as high-flying Whitton swooped for maximum points

Football