‘To lose that was was heart breaking for all of us’ – James Franklyn on US Portsmouth’s FA Vase semi-final agony

James Franklyn fires US Portsmouth into the lead against Binfield. Picture: Keith Woodland

But the leading scorer stressed an overriding feeling of 'heartbreak' still remains after their penalty shoot-out defeat to Hellenic League Premier Division Binfield.

Glenn Turnbull's troops stood just 10 minutes away from a Wembley final after Franklyn had fired the hosts ahead at the Victory Stadium in the first half with his 19th goal of the season.

But heartache was to follow as Liam Ferdinand – brought in from the Southern League to boost the Berkshire club's Wembley chances - levelled in the 80th minute before a 4-3 defeat in the shoot-out.

For Franklyn, it was a day of monumental contrast from putting USP ahead to experiencing 'one of his lowest feelings in football' when Jack Broome struck the winning penalty.

He said: 'To win seven games and looking at some of the odds of the teams we played, they were miles ahead of us.

‘To win seven games with a team with no budget, it’s amazing. We’ll sit back in a couple of days and reflect on how well we’ve done.

‘I know people who have played in the Vase who have never got past the third round, so to get to the semi-final was just unbelievable.

Josh Hazell (right) rushes in to congratulate James Franklyn on his goal. Picture: Keith Woodland

‘You saw the emotion on my face when I scored with all the boys. We went in at half time at 1-0 and we said there were more goals in it.

‘Obviously, conceding with 10 minutes left and then losing the way we did - it was probably one of the worst feelings I’ve had in football.'

Just getting to the semi-finals was an extraordinary achievement for USP.

They defeated higher division opposition in six of the seven rounds to reach that stage, starting with a shock win at AFC Portchester last October.

But Franklyn admitted being so close to reaching the final is a bitter pill to swallow.

He said: 'To be 10 minutes away from Wembley … obviously going into the game we knew they were going to be good, but being 1-0 up with 10 minutes left we’d have definitely taken it.

‘Obviously they played very well on the day and I congratulate them and they deserved to score because they put us under a lot of pressure in the second half.

‘Going into penalties, it’s 50-50, so to be sort of one penalty away from Wembley and to lose that way was heart breaking for all of us.

‘A couple of messages have come into the WhatsApp group saying how proud we are, but everyone is obviously gutted at the minute.

‘But I think give it a couple of days, everyone will realise what an achievement it was and how well we did to get that far.'