Yellows came agonisingly close to securing a point in yesterday's local derby against Kimberley Miners Welfare FC in the UCL Premier division north tie at the RM Stadium.

On 13 minutes Yellows had their first real opportunity, as Crawford saw his shot turned away for a corner by the Kimberley keeper during the start of what was a good spell for the home side as Kimberley had started the brighter. Another chance on 25 minutes saw Orange head over the bar from an Ashurst corner. Five minutes from the break Yellows came close to taking the lead as Dill turned and his shot hit the bar and again he was on hand minutes later but his shot was just wide as it remained even at the break after a much improved performance from last weekend's match.

In the second half Yellows had another opportunity and it was Ashurst the provider again as Orange just cleared the bar with his header. On 67 minutes, man of the match Short had an opportunity, but his shot rebound for a corner. As Yellows were looking like they might grab an important home point after a number of opportunities that they were just not able to convert, Kimberley struck with a goal direct from a free kick to make it 1-0 and they also came close five minutes from the end of normal time hitting the bar. Unfortunately despite a valiant effort Yellows came away with nothing as they were just not able to convert any of a number of chances, whilst Kimberley took their goal well.

Manager Reece Limbert was understandably disappointed with losing out to a single Kimberley goal. "It is obviously a disappointing result to lose by a single goal when you’ve played so well throughout. We went into the game with a clear game plan and I thought the lads executed it extremely well. Kimberley started the game very brightly and had a couple of half chances from set pieces but after the first 10 or 15 minutes, we grew into the game and began to dominate. We probably had the better of the chances in the first half where we hit the bar and put a couple of chances wide. We started the second half how we finished the first half and kept knocking on the door, but nothing seemed to drop for us in the penalty area. Ultimately, it was our lack of clinicalness that cost us in the end as Kimberley scored an outstanding free kick later on and when we began to chase the game, they hit the bar. Overall, I am extremely proud of the performance that the lads put in. They worked their socks off and executed the game plan beautifully, but if you don’t score goals you don’t win games and that’s where we need to improve going forward".

The games come thick and fast during the festive season and on Saturday we travel to Loughborough but despite the loss yesterday, Limbert remains in a buoyant mood. "It's been a busy schedule for us and it’s another tough test on Saturday against another top team.  We managed to come away with a point earlier on in the season. Loughborough will be a tough test as they’ve had a good run of games recently, but we know going into the game that we have to be clear and ruthless with whatever chances we might have. I’m confident that the lads will execute the game plan. We just need to find a way of putting the ball in the back of the net, that has been our Achilles heel all season."

Yellows travel to Loughborough on Saturday in a 3pm kick off against Loughborough Students.