Belper Town boss apologises to fans after FA Cup humbling
Belper Town's shocked manager Andy Carney issued an immediate apology for his team's abject display which saw them exit the FA Cup on a 3-1 home defeat against local rivals Holbrook Sports last Saturday.
He said: "There are no excuses. It was a very disappointing display and on behalf of the players and management I want to apologise to our supporters for the totally unacceptable performance."
The Nailers went out to Holbrook in the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup for the second successive year and their 3-1 home reverse has to go down as one of the worst results in their recent FA Cup history.
Carney added: "As manager I take full responsibility for what happened and want to assure everyone that the management and players took this game very seriously.
"We took great care over our preparations for the game, and up until the point when the game kicked off everything had gone to plan.
"We had talked at length about our game plan and how we would play to our strengths, but too many individuals let us down and I was not just disappointed but angry too."
The introduction of Ruben Wiggins-Thomas and Harry Lord injected some urgency in the last third of the game but it was virtually too late when Justin Jenkins bagged his first goal for the club with 20 minutes to go.
"I wanted Ruben to join us in the summer but he opted for Matlock Town, and when he wasn't involved at the start of the season he was happy to come here for first team football," explained Carney.
"Ruben will inject some much needed extra pace on the flanks and both players will prove to be valuable acquisitions."
"Harry is only 17 years old but Rotherham are excited about his prospects and have loaned him out to us for a few weeks."
The Nailers are in action this coming Saturday when Loughborough Dynamo visit Christchurch Meadow (3pm).
In contrast, Holbrook Sports manager Leigh Grant was obviously overjoyed and said: "The result and performance was very pleasing.
"The lads showed great commitment and attitude today.
"I was critical of the side's finishing after the last game against Ellistown.
"We got a fantastic result today but in fairness we should have scored more and still need to be more clinical in front of goal.
"I am very pleased for everyone at the club and I definitely knew how important this game was to them, it was great to see some new faces in the crowd and hope they continue to come and support us this season."
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Weather for Belper
Friday 25 May 2012
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Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
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