JUST two weeks after a dreadful 5-2 defeat to nine-man Bootle in the FA Cup, Silsden suffered another defensive horror show on Saturday, going down 6-2 at Yorkshire Amateur in the Toolstation Northern Counties East League Premier Division.

It means Silsden are now pointless after their opening two games, having lost 1-0 to Garforth Town last Tuesday too.

The Cobbydalers’ defence is full of experience and quality, with the likes of captain Josh Kaine, Shaun Airey and Mark Everingham among the ranks.

But manager Danny Forrest refused to throw any individuals under the bus, saying that the team’s defensive effort from front to back has not been good enough so far this season.

He said: “Yorkshire Amateur are a class side but we made mistakes and shot ourselves in the foot on Saturday.

“Defence is a team effort when you’re out of possession and it’s something we’ve worked hard on in training this season, so it’s been disappointing.

“There’s been lapses of concentration and we’re not defending as a team.

“We’ve got to be hard to beat, that’s what I aspire to, and if you look at some of the goals we’ve conceded so far this season, it’s not good enough.

“It’s not all doom and gloom, we’ve had some good performances this season, but we need to do it regularly.”

One such good performance came in that narrow defeat at a strong Garforth side.

The contest was decided by an 83rd minute winner and Forrest said: “The Garforth result was actually tougher to take than the one on Saturday, because I felt we deserved at least a point from the game.

“We were so close to it being the perfect away performance.”

Silsden will be looking to put their first points on the board when they host Goole AFC this weekend.

Goole were hammered themselves on Saturday, 7-2 by Garforth, and Forrest said: “It will be two teams going up against each other looking to get their seasons started.

“Both of us will want to get points on the board, so there’s a bit of pressure on the two teams, even this early in the season.

“It’s really on us to put into practice what we’ve seen in training and for us to take more responsibility for our actions during games, both the staff and the players.”

One player who almost certainly won’t be featuring against Goole is young goalkeeper Alfie Darke, who went off with a nasty-looking injury towards the end of the Yorkshire Amateur defeat.

Forrest explained: “Alfie suffered a fairly significant gash to his knee. He had to go to hospital and have stitches in it. It’s not pretty.

“But we’re hoping the damage isn’t too long-lasting and we expect he’ll only be out for two weeks maximum.”

Assuming Darke does have to sit out the Goole clash, he will at least be able to watch the game from Silsden's brand-new stand.

Forrest was enthusiastic about the work being done on the Cobbydale Construction Stadium over the last few months, saying: “We've got the new stand now and the new hospitality building is pretty much done, it just needs a bit of furnishing.

“The ticket office is coming along nicely too.

“I'm proud of everything that's been done here and the committee deserve a lot of praise.

“It's a great environment for us to play football in now. We want to capitalise on that and use that good feeling at the club to do well on the pitch.”

In other club news, the Cobbydalers confirmed the signing of young defender Omar Anjum from Eccleshill United on Monday evening.