But the young squad played well and were unfortunate to concede two late goals which made the result seem worse. Wroxham held the home side in the first half and were unlucky to fall behind midway through the second period and then a disputed goal made matters worse before Cromer scored again in the last minute.
Chris Wigger took charge against his old side with a number of absences he included Ollie Ebbage returning from university and new signings Aaron Attree and Nathon Caston.
Wroxham took a little while to find their feet on a soft pitch which passed an early morning inspection. The home side were pressing forward and gained the first corner on 12 minutes. From this, Wroxham cleared off the line to concede another corner and from this Karl Horton’s shot flashed wide.
Urged on by Wigger, the young Yachtsmen started to gain confidence and a lovely cross from Marcus Wilkinson caused problems for the home defence who were happy to concede a corner. From this Ollie Ebbage headed firmly towards goal and John Howes fumbled before collecting the loose ball.
Cromer won another corner which brought a header also cleared off the line. The home side were again starting to get on top midway through the half and Wroxham’s defence was split when a cross found Josh Halliday in space but his shot was well saved by Ollie Sutton. Then a shot from No 8 across goal missed the far post by inches.
A good Wroxham move started by Sol Pope released Aaron Attree who got in a perfect cross which was cut out by Ben Graver with Matty Doyle lurking.
The Wroxham management were pleased with the 1st half performance which was solid with chances for the home side restricted.
HT Cromer Town 0 Wroxham Reserves 0
Cromer came out for the second half down the slope and almost took an immediate lead. Shaun Sandell’s low shot hit the post and Paul Bradshaw’s header was just wide.
Again Wroxham picked up and a lovely cross-filed pass from Doyle set up young Alex (AJ) Jary who had a good chance for glory but shout straight at the home ‘keeper. Then another good cross from Wilkinson only need a touch to go in but Doyle missed the chance.
Wroxham were then very unlucky to fall behind. Ollie Ebbage won the ball with a good tackle. But lost control and the ball fell for Darren Terrington to tuck under the despairing Sutton as he charged out.
Sutton then made a superb save to finger tip round a 25 yard shot from Matty Eves to keep the score down.
The Wroxham players who had given their all were now running out of steam especially after losing skipper Tyler Curran but their resolved was severely dented when Cromer scored again on 85 minutes. The referee failed to spot a clear push by Graver and the home side took advantage as Sandell scored. Then to make matters worse they unnecessarily gave away a corner in the last minute and Graver headed home.
This defeat has put further pressure on and makes next week’s home game against bottom side Wymondham very important after six straight defeats.