Robins told to 'move on' from cup heartache
Kevin Wilson has urged his players not to dwell on the “massive disappointment” of exiting the FA Cup last night, which has caused us to miss out on a first round proper tie at home to Accrington Stanley.
With the draw having taken place on Sunday afternoon, we went into the replay against the AFC Fylde following a 1-1 draw in the north-west determined to complete the job at the New Manor Ground.
But it wasn’t to be as a second minute goal from Adam Farrell proved to be enough to win the tie. Long range efforts soon after the break from Dereece Gardner and Laurie Wilson were the best we could manage in reply as we failed to do ourselves justice in front of the crowd of 696.
“We had enough possession, especially in the second half, but we never carved them open when we needed to,” said Wilson. “The final ball was not quite there or we let ourselves down in our decision making.
“We also shot ourselves in the foot by conceding a goal so early on, something that keeps happening, and I can only put it down to concentration.
“We had shots from distance, but I wouldn’t say there was anything particularly clear cut ... just moments where we have not reacted.
“It’s obviously a massive disappointment to go out so close to the first round and there were a lot of unhappy faces in the dressing room after the game.
“It’s disappointing that we have missed out on playing Accrington and all that would have come with it, but now that’s gone and we can’t do anything about it – we have to move on.”
A big plus point to come out of the cup run – where we defeated Coalville, Belper and Gresley in earlier rounds – was that it sparked the team into life after early-season struggles in the Evo-Stik Premier Division.
Wilson added: “We have to pick ourselves up for the FA Trophy tie at Whitby on Saturday. I have said several times before that the League is our bread and butter – and I stand by that.
“Whether the cup form can kick us on in the League, only time will tell, but that is clearly the aim.
“It would have been great to represent the Evo-Stik League in the first round proper, but we wish Fylde all the best in doing that.”
* Our academy side will host Harrogate Town at the New Manor Ground tomorrow (2pm) in a Football Conference Youth League fixture, while the Central Conference team will travel to take on Northamptonshire's CV Reds (2pm) on Thursday.
