LITTLE Oakley assistant manager Paul Sadler admits his side have to tighten up defensively, if they want to keep picking up points this season.

The Acorns notched their second victory of the Thurlow Nunn League division one campaign on Saturday after winning 4-1 at Needham Market Reserves.

However, some “naive” defending led to them being brought down to earth with a 3-2 defeat at Halstead Town Reserves on Tuesday night.

“Saturday was an important result for us, in terms of beating the teams around us,” said Sadler, who works alongside first-team boss Sean Tynan.

“Needham are a very young and energetic side and, at times, we struggled to cope with them.

“But we persevered and, over the 90 minutes, deserved our win.

“With the shortage of players through injury and unavailability, it’s great to give another local lad, Ryan Smart, a chance at this level of football and he hasn’t disappointed with his last three performances. He thoroughly deserved his goal.”

Smart was joined on the scoresheet by Jake Kioussis, Louis Reynolds and Lewis Wood on Saturday.

Wood and Ronnie Heather were then on target in midweek but some poor defending made it a disappointing night at the Milbanks Stadium.

“We were far too naive in our defending and need to stop conceding easy goals,” added Sadler, whose side host Braintree Town Reserves tomorrow (kick-off 3pm).

“In almost every game this season, we’ve gifted the opposition a goal or two and this is something we must cut out of our game if we want to climb the table.

“The team is set up before a game and everyone knows their jobs, but the players have to take responsibility of their own actions once on the pitch and stay focussed for the 90 minutes.”