The Douglas United Dragons have suffered another demoralising defeat going down to Innisfail 5-0 at Cassowary Park on Saturday night.

In what was actually a tight encounter, it was two appalling patches of defending in each half that ultimately cost the Dragons.

Three goals in the space of five first half minutes effectively ruined any chance of the Dragons getting something from the match while two second half goals in as many minutes blew the score out to give it a more comprehensive look than was perhaps a true representation of the match.

That certainly is not to say that the Dragons deserved anything from the match because, while the match was competitive, Douglas failed to create many clear cut chances.

Innisfail created slightly more chances and were ruthless in the way they took their chances to ensure that they would be leaving Cassowary Park with the three points.

The Dragons started the match well with Alistair Baird impressing early in his full senior debut and Daniel Ferrero receiving a lot of ball and using it intelligently.

Matty Smith harried the Innisfail left full back without receiving much change while James Cooling was looking threatening.

However, apart from a couple of set pieces which were wasted, the Dragons could not mount an effective threat on the Innisfail goal.

This was until a loose clearance fell to Michael Wade on the edge of the area. His scuffed left foot shot fell to Ian Marsh whose goal-bound flick was cleared off the line.

The Dragons then had a good shout for a penalty waved away when Marsh was sandwiched by two Innisfail defenders.

As is often the case with the non-award of a decision, Innisfail came straight up the other end and punished some sloppy Dragons defending to take a 1-0 lead.

What should have happened next was the Dragons should have tightened up and made sure they did not concede again however more tardiness allowed and action replay of the first goal to occur, this time with an unstoppable finish past the helpless Fitzgerald in the Dragons goal.

And it quickly got worse when the Innisfail left winger, who was giving Danny Ferrero a bit of a working over wriggled free down the left.

His cross squeezed between another impressive debutant, Gary Cunningham’s legs before hitting an Innisfail player and finding the back of the net.

Five minutes of madness had effectively cost the Dragons a chance at a result. Nothing but an inspired second half performance would change that.

With some stinging words ringing in the players ears they set about producing that performance.

Ten minutes into the second half Douglas has a goal harshly ruled out for offside when the touch had actually come off an Innisfail player.

This seemed to take the last of the fight out of the Dragons as they failed to assert enough pressure on the Innisfail goal.

And with time ebbing away Innisfail struck twice more in a matter of minutes to give the final 5-0 score a slightly misleading look.

Interestingly there were not many poor individual performances, it was more of a collectively poor performance.

Indeed, Alistair Baird put in an outstanding display the belied his tender years while Gary Cunningham played well in his first game for the club.

The Paddy’s Bar man of the match went to Alistair Baird for his efforts.

In the early kickoff the Dragons reserves should have put the game to bed in the first half, creating a host of chances but had to wait until the last kick of the game to secure a 2-1 win thanks to goals from Eugene Brown and Ben Syrett.

Tom Moffat was outstanding at right back while the Man of the Match award went to Billy Thomson who tormented the Innisfail left back and produced his best performance for the club since joining at the start of the year.

Next up for the Dragons is a Northern Club Challenge match at Cassowary Park against perrenial Townsville powerhouses Brothers at 7pm.

This will prove another stern test of the character of the Dragons squad but with more players returning this week to bolster the squad competition for places should ensure a competitive performance.