Crows boss reflects on Tuesday night’s FA Trophy exit against Uxbridge

ROYSTON TOWN manager Paul Attfield says it’s important his team bounce back after suffering their second cup replay defeat of the season on Tuesday night.

After failing to get the job done on Saturday away at Uxbridge in the first round qualifying of the FA Trophy – thanks to a last-gasp equaliser from the hosts – the Crows were unable to finish the job at Garden Walk and a disappointing display put paid to any hopes of a decent run in this competition, and a second qualifying round clash against Canvey Island.

It was the second time this season the Crows have suffered defeat in a replay, after losing to Wingate & Finchley in the first round qualifying of the FA Cup last month.

Uxbridge went two up in the first half on Tuesday night, with Chris Moore and Kabembe grabbing the goals, but a much-improved second half display coupled with Luke Robins’ goal late on in the second half looked like spurring the hosts on to get back in the match.

But Uxbridge quickly dispelled any hope of that, and Danny Julienne netted the visitors’ third within a minute of the restart to put the tie to bed.

Attfield was understandably disappointed with his side’s first half display, insisting the players gave themselves a mountain to climb.

“It was probably the worst first half performance we have seen this season,” said the Town manager. “It was similar to the way we went out of the FA Cup – we should have got the job done on Saturday, and I was worried this might happen after coming so close at the weekend.

“They (Uxbridge) were a decent outfit, and they just didn’t let us settle in the first half. They rushed us, got into us, and we couldn’t impose ourselves on the game.

“We improved in the second half and I thought we were superb. We created a lot of chances but we simply left ourselves with too much to do.

“We just didn’t apply ourselves in the first half and at this level if you do that you will be in trouble.

“The cups were a priority to me this season but if you play like that then you won’t get very far.”

Despite his frustration, Attfield is already looking forward to Saturday’s home clash in the league against Fleet Town, who are yet to win away from home this season.

“Tuesday night is done with now, there’s nothing we can do about it,” Attfield added. “We’ve got to bounce back. The players are disappointed and we had a bit of an inquest in the dressing room after the match, but we need to move on.”

Despite the Crows’ promising start in the league – they are currently in fifth place after four wins, a draw and one defeat from their opening six fixtures – Attfield says he is remaining optimistic about his team’s capabilities in their first season in this division following promotion last term.

“There is still a lot of learning to be done,” said Attfield. “We’ve started to ship quite a few goals, and a lot from set-plays which is obviously a concern.

“But you can’t look too much into league positions at this early stage of the season. We’ve had a good start, but maybe teams are starting to find us out a little bit, but it’s up to us to deal with that and make sure we keep on improving in this league.”