Gosport Borough boss Gale reacts to FA Cup loss to Hereford – ‘I couldn’t ask any more of my team’

Borough didn't go down without a fight but the Conference North side were good value for their win.

Though disappointed to exit the competition, manager Shaun Gale felt his team gave a good account of themselves.

'These cup games are always about being in and staying in the game,' he said.

'We didn't really start as well as I would have liked and allowed Hereford to get a bit of momentum.

'After our slow start we caused them a lot of problems.

'Bradley Tarbuck down the one side caused them some concern.

'There were some good performances out there.

'Take nothing away from Hereford, they have got a lot of good quality in their side.

'I thought we were excellent, though we made mistakes at times, but we are very young and have to accept that.

'Their first goal was a soft goal for us to give away but we had some good chances.

'I felt that our final pass at times wasn't slick enough and when up against the better teams you have to be crystal sharp.

'We made it hard for ourselves.

'Credit to the lads, though, we have had one heck of a start and not surprisingly a few of them were a bit leggy out there today.

'I couldn't ask any more of them.

'I asked them to go out and give their all, try to play the right way and some of the patterns of play we produced were fantastic.'

After the Conference North visitors dominated the opening stages, the tie became a more even affair.

Borough's best moment came on eight minutes after Rory Williams picked out Tarbuck with a raking 40-yard crossfield pass.

Tarbuck cut inside and keeper Paul White had to beat away his fierce drive.

The visitors, however, took a deserved lead in the 27th minute when the powerful Lennell John-Lewis gained possession on the edge of the area and lashed the ball past the diving Pat O'Flaherty.

Hereford extended their lead in the 65th minute from the penalty spot.

Williams clumsily pushed John-Lewis and the striker sent O'Flaherty the wrong way with his spot-kick.

Borough were given a glimmer of hope on 73 minutes when sub Dan Wooden saw his shot deflected into the net.

Within three minutes, though, those hopes were dashed with the award of a second penalty.

Tom Owen-Evans converted the spot-kick after being pulled back in the area.

'Both penalties were soft,' said Gale.

'Their second one really killed us because we had just scored and seized the momentum.

'The important thing was that even after going two goals down the players didn't let their heads drop.

'We try to encourage them to play the right way and keep doing the right things.

'It won't always be our day but the players can hold their heads up high.

'We have got a great group who give everything every time they play.

'It wasn't enough to get us through but sometimes you have to accept that.'

Gosport Borough: O'Flaherty, Kavanagh, Williams, Woodford, Rose, Tarbuck, Teggart (Suraci 46), Bailey (Wooden 66), Charles (Patterson 72), Storey, McCreadie.