After winning a place in the final of the Herts Centenary County Cup the previous week Star came down to Earth with a bump on Saturday.

Elliotts' league form needs to improve sharply, as they are now in the middle of a relegation battle, with some difficult fixtures remaining.

The game started well enough, with Elliotts battling well against a physical Bovingdon side.

Matt Jones had to be substituted after 30 minutes, and Elliotts certainly missed his presence up front.

Still the game was there for the taking, as Elliotts battled against a strong wind in the first half, but as a result of some bad marking Bovingdon scored the opener.

In the second half Elliotts came out with Cooper and Bell working hard up front to try and make an impact.

The referee was making some strange decisions, and one led to Bovingdon's second goal as an offside-looking player was left to shoot into an empty net.

Worse was to come when Billy Davies, in Elliotts' goal, was again left exposed and the score became 3-0.

By this time Stu Love had also limped off and been replaced by Luke Reed. This mattered not, as Bovingdon continued to press forward and Elliotts offered little resistance.

Ben Taylor and Tommy Flahive tried hard, but with little help, as Bovingdon scored two late goals to run away with an easy 5-0 victory.

Elliotts' season is now at a crossroads, with a Senior County Cup final to look forward too, but also relegation staring them in the face.

The disappointing thing about Saturday's performance was that several players seemed to give up in the last 20 minutes, and some harsh words were exchanged after the final whistle.

ELLIOTT STAR: Davies, Love (L Reed), Plumb, Day, Flahive, Taylor, Wicks, Bernstein, Jones (L Cooper), P Cooper (B Renphrey), Bell.

Elliott Star 0

Bovingdon 5

Herts County League

Premier Division