OUR 100 per cent start to the League season is over. But although we were beaten by South Tyneside last Sunday, we remained unbowed.

Shorn of three key players, my team stood their ground and traded blows with our hosts, only for their exemplary finishing to prove decisive.

We lost 4-1, but I could not fault our display. We were still creating chances, even when we were three goals behind, and the scoreline was unduly harsh.

I was unhappy with our defending early in the second half as we went 1-0 down - from a corner, the first time we've conceded at a flag-kick for almost six matches.

But having had the better of the first half, we showed commendable character to equalise through Nicholas Elliott shortly afterwards.

Two minutes later, one of our defenders stopped, expecting the referee to give an offside decision our way.

But the player wasn't interfering with play, they scored, and we never recovered.

At 3-1, I sacrificed a defender for a forward - I'd rather lose 6-1, having gambled, than by two goals and die wondering - and the game became increasingly stretched.

But the lads' heads never dropped and we gave a performance that one player's dad described as "among the best I've ever seen from Willington".

Given that we were missing captain Michael Stothard and midfielder schemer Adam Comby, the display augurs well for the rest of the season.

LIKE an Under-15s' version of Claudio Ranieri, I was ready to make wholesale changes to my team for this Sunday's League Cup tie.

Then, our First Division opponents Whickham won 4-2 at Waldridge Park - and, as Edwyn Collins once sang, I had to rip it up and start again.

I'm still going to tinker with the side that started at South Tyneside, but as it stands Willington and squad rotation will remain strangers.

Several of our players would benefit from a rest, so they will be omitted from my plans.

Last season, we were paired in the first round of the League Cup with Boldon Colts - who won 20 out of 20 games in the Premier Division.

But this Cup draw appears to have given us an excellent opportunity to progress to at least the quarter-finals.

Let's hope the changes I make to my team do not undermine our Cup chances.

BISHOP AUCKLAND SCHOOLS' Under-15 team is among the best in the country, I'm told.

So, for Willington to have five players in their 16-man squad is a remarkable achievement.

Craig Alston, Lewis Hope, Adam Comby and Harry Drummond - plus David Dowson, who played for the club until he joined Sunderland - all made the grade at last week's trials.

Well done to all of them. Just make sure you don't get injured the day before a big Willington game...

I had to restrain myself on Monday when Mick McCarthy was bemoaning his lack of a left-footed midfielder.

"I'd like a natural left-sided player to give us balance," the Sunderland manager said.

I came so close to telling him that he'd just signed "a natural left-sided player" - Willington's Lewis Hope!

Mind you, his trial only started last Tuesday - so maybe McCarthy has discovered his ready-made replacement for Kevin Kilbane by now.