22-game unbeaten record ends at Cambridge

Last updated 14:22, Monday, 18 August 2008

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CALL ME IRRESPONSIBLE: AFC keeper Tim Deasy fumbles Wayne Hatswell’s harmless free-kick, which dribbled into the net and proved to be Cambridge’s winning goal on Saturday PICTURE BY KEVIN COLEMAN

TIM Deasy has held his hands up to costing Barrow their unbeaten start to the league season.

The 22-year-old keeper was badly at fault for the second goal in the 2-1 defeat at Cambridge who took over at the top as a result.

Deasy let a harmless 35-yard free-kick from defender Wayne Hatswell slip through his fingers into the net after 39 minutes.

It came only four minutes after a Paul Tait header had cancelled out Lee McEvilly’s opener for Cambridge.

A distraught Deasy – a hero during the Bluebirds’ promotion campaign – was inconsolable as he came back out on to the pitch on his own after the game.

He said: “I’ve got my hands to the free-kick and it’s gone in. My finger was dislocated trying to save it and I had to have it put back in straight away.

“But no excuses, I’ve let the team, managers, mates, fans, everybody down. The second half saves don’t make up for the goal.”

AFC joint-manager Darren Sheridan said that keepers are unfortunately remembered for their mistakes.

He said: “Tim saved us a lot of times last season and made two quality saves second half to keep us in it.

“He has got to keep his head up and move on to the next game.”

The manager felt it was a scrappy game with no excuses for the first defeat of the campaign.

He added: “The first goal we conceded was scrappy, I thought we could have defended it better.

“We had a couple of chances but didn’t create too much in the final third of the field.

“It is a measure of how far we have come that we came close to a result at a club like Cambridge.”