Ilford suffer back-to-back defeats.

AN ABJECT display from Ilford in their 1-0 defeat to 10-man Waltham Forest, was followed up by a 5-2 defeat at Cheshunt on Tuesday, as their terrible run of form continued.

With the Foxes now three points from safety their situation is becoming increasingly desperate, yet had Colin Walton’s side been a little more clinical in front of goal the outcome of both games may have been different.

The stark reality of this fact is not lost on the Ilford boss. “It was never a 5-2 game. It was a good game, an end to end game, but we shot ourselves in the foot once again,” said Walton after the defeat to Cheshunt.

“Both sides probably had 10 chances, they scored five we scored two and that’s the difference at the moment.

“It was the same story on Saturday and I said to the players afterwards, if you don’t take your chances you get punished.”

Ilford made a bright start to Saturday’s match, when Derek Hawtin’s volley had keeper Jason Willis beaten, but came back off the crossbar and bounced to safety.

On 54 minutes, Forest’s Ian Luck was dismissed for an apparent headbutt on an Ilford defender, whilst teammate Luke Stanley waited to take a free-kick, which hit the crossbar.

Moments after Cooper missed a golden opportunity to put Ilford in front, they fell behind.

A deep free-kick was spilt by keeper Rob Budd, after a mix-up with Cooper and a grateful Brian Okwera tapped into the empty net for the game’s only goal on 68 minutes.

Six minutes later the visitors were reduced to nine men, when Joel Palmer was harshly shown his second yellow card for a challenge on Budd, as referee Mr Wilde ignored protests from Ilford and Forest players alike.

Despite numerical superiority, the home side failed to apply any real pressure on the Forest goal, with a snapshot from Hawtin – that Willis turned round the post - the only clear cut effort.

In Tuesday night’s defeat to Cheshunt, Steve Harrison bagged a hat-trick, while Dave Hicks and a Liam Thomas own goal did further damage, but the result could have been so different.

After Sham Darr scored to level at 1-1, debutant Jan Skoniezski wasted three opportunities in quick succession and Roberts’ free-kick rattled the crossbar.

By the time the visitors found the net through Tom Nyama the game was long since over.