NEWQUAY boss Shaun Middleton wants his side to bounce back from their ‘absolutely dreadful’ performance against Buckland Athletic when they head to Brislington on Saturday in the Western League Premier Division.

The Peppermints were soundly beaten by their fellow top-five hopefuls, a result which moved the Devonians six points clear of Newquay despite having played three more games.

To compound matters for Middleton, Newquay’s sub-par showing was a far cry from four days earlier when they thrashed Saltash United 5-1 away from home as Jack Baxter’s brilliant finish within two minutes of the restart was soon added to by an unfortunate own goal from Cam Turner.

While anybody can lose a game, it was the manner of the defeat which irked Middleton who was far from happy at full-time.

He said: “It was just a really, really poor performance I must say. It was really flat and chalk and cheese to what we were the other night which is quite worrying. But we are a bit like that as a group. One minute we’re playing extremely well and the football is flying, then the next minute it’s Jekyll and Hyde stuff with our boys.

“With the experience we’ve got and some boys not backing up a good performance it’s a tricky one to put your finger on, but fair play to Buckland, they came down with a gameplan, were pretty solid throughout and looked like they wanted it way more than we did.

“Overall it was just very disappointing from our guys, particularly after Tuesday night where we were really, really good, so it’s a tough one to figure out to be honest.”

Newquay, who were again missing key attackers Rhys Simmonds and Jack Bray-Evans, missed a big chance just before the half-hour when striker Louis Price was denied brilliantly by Andrew Sowden-Bird, and Middleton admitted he thought it was key, although felt they were way off the pace after the break.

He said: “If we score that I do actually think it’s a different game, but you could see even in the second half it was flat. Not many voices and stuff.

“The only time I sort of felt a buzz in that game was in the last five minutes where we we stepped on a little bit, got the ball wide and got a few balls into the box, but other than that it was awful. We were absolutely dreadful today.”

Callam McOnie’s first half injury meant an introduction at half-time for Allam Ahmed, while ex-St Austell forward player Matt Searle was given a debut having recently left Helston Athletic.

On their showings, Middleton at least found some crumbs of comfort.

He continued: “Allam looked good and is getting back to it , and I was impressed with Matt Searle when he came on on debut. He’ll give some energy to the group which we need, we need some willing runners and stuff. But not much really.”

On Searle signing, Middleton later said: “'Matt is someone we’ve had our eye on for a few seasons, so as soon as I knew he had left Helston we made contact.

“He will give us something different to what we already have, and that’s great for the squad. His goal-scoring record from midfield is brilliant. He can also play in a number of positions, and we can’t wait to see what he can deliver.”

Middleton takes his side to Bristol on Saturday to face a Brislington side who sit in the bottom six, but is demanding a response.

He concluded: “We’re going to have to make some changes to what was put out there today, that is a fact. Hopefully we’ll have a good week of training this week and then get ready to go again next week.

“It’s an unforgiving league, every game is hard which I’ve said previously. I’m proving to be right in what I’ve said as if you don’t have players willing to run, take risks or get on the ball and not hide and not beat your opposite number then you’re going to get beat, and that’s what happened today.

“We probably only had two players that won their individual battle. This league isn’t rocket science – it really isn’t and the proof’s in the pudding.”