DARREN Manning admits the ‘relentless’ nature of the Essex Senior League is something Hullbridge Sports must deal with after they fell to their first defeat of the season.

Sports were beaten 2-1 by Sawbridgeworth Town, which ended their 10-match unbeaten start to the campaign.

Hullbridge remain top of the league but second-placed Stansted will move above them if they win their one game in hand.

And Manning said he had no complaints following the final whistle.

“We threw everything at them but just couldn’t score,” he said. “They were excellent and their application was superb. They dug in and deserved it.

“I have no concerns after the defeat. We created a lot of opportunities and we should have won comfortably and we would have scored five on another night.

“We started slowly and that needs to improve but afterwards I said I was proud of the boys as in the second half we were outstanding.”

Sports are back in action again on Saturday and have a busy schedule ahead of the Christmas run-in.

And Manning accepts the league is unforgiving as Sports bid to win promotion to the Isthmian North.

“It is relentless at the moment,” said the Sports manager. “We have cup games and league games to contend with and we haven’t even started the FA Vase yet.

“But we know the demands of the league. We need to manage the training schedule and we must stay as fresh as possible.

“It will be hard but we have to deal with it.”