‘They totally deserved to get their backsides slapped silly’- Hordean boss Birmingham furious as Baffins Milton Rovers record famous FA Cup victory

Birmingham said his squad’s attitude was ‘absolute disgrace’ as the Deans slumped to a shock 3-0 defeat Baffins Milton Rovers.

Connor Duffin missed a penalty - his second spot-kick failure of the season - as Rovers advanced into the first qualifying round for the first time in their history.

It was the second year running that Horndean’s FA Cup adventure had been ended by a PO postcode rival.

A year ago, AFC Portchester netted four first-half goals en route to a 4-2 preliminary round victory.

Birmingham raged: ‘It was a carbon copy, a mirror image, of the game at AFC Portchester.

‘I said after that game it was the worst performance I had seen in my time at Horndean.

‘Now this performance was the worst I’ve seen since I’ve been there.

‘It was pathetic - that’s the only word I can use to describe it.

‘I have people living off last season, I have people living off a good pre-season.

‘We were out-worked and out-muscled by a hungry Baffins team who fully deserved to progress.’

Horndean entered the tie having won all three of their league and cup games in 2022/23, while Baffins had lost both of their Wessex home games 3-0.

The FA Cup, though, has a remarkable habit of throwing up surprise results and so it was again on Portsea Island.

‘I have no qualms, no grumbles,’ Birmingham continued. ‘Keeping a clean sheet meant more to Baffins than it did to Horndean trying to score and trying to progress.

‘If I had said to my players, go out and play as badly as you can, be as lazy as you can and show you don’t care with your body language, they could not have carried out the instructions any better.

‘It could have been more. The penalty we had was never a penalty. Had Duffers scored, we would have been back in a game we were never in. I’m sort of glad he missed.

‘My players should be down the chemist today buying a ton of sudocrem because they got their backsides slapped silly - and they totally deserved to get their backsides slapped silly.

‘Their attitude was an absolute disgrace.’

Birmingham said he will be ringing the chances for Tuesday’s Hampshire Senior Cup trip to Brockenhurst.

‘The players who have waited patiently will get their chance to fill their boots and grab the shirt,’ he remarked.