Gillingham manager Andy Hessenthaler was proud of his side despite their 3-1 defeat to Stoke City in FA Cup round three
Comments |
by Luke Cawdell
Andy Hessenthaler was a proud man despite seeing his side crash
out of the FA Cup on Saturday.
The Gillingham manager saw his side take the lead against
Premier League Stoke City before succumbing to the
higher-league opposition.
Hessenthaler (pictured) rued the brief spells in the game where
his side switched off and got punished.
He said: "After the first 35 minutes, when we were 1-0 up, there
was pretty much only one team in the game and that was us.
"We had a good spell, but then unfortunately in the last 10
minutes of the first half we got punished and it let them back in
the game and lifts them."
The Gills went into the break 2-1 down and conceded a third
shortly after the restart.
"We've switched off and we got punished," he said. "At 3-1 it's
then a mountain to climb, but I was proud of the boys.
"I thought they were terrific against a strong Premiership side
and we can come out of the game with a lot of credit. There are a
lot of positives that we can take into the rest of our league
programme."
Much of the pre-match hype surrounded the history of Gills
chairman Paul Scally and former boss Tony Pulis - now the
manager at Stoke.
"It wasn't about Tony Pulis and our chairman, it was about a
game of football," said the Gills boss.
"I thought the game was a good one and we can take a lot of
credit. They are a strong side and Tony showed us a lot of respect
with the team that they put out and we gave it a right go."
The Gills faced a physical and direct threat all afternoon and
lost striker Danny Kedwell to a cracked rib midway through the
second half.
"We knew that it would be tough against them with the long throw
but there are a lot of Premiership teams that they play against who
find it very difficult, so a club like us are going to find it
difficult.
"All-in-all I was pleased with the boys without a doubt.
"As a manager, against a Premiership side, there is a worry that
we could get a little humiliated, because that can happen. That was
our concern but we said to the players 'go out and don't let the
game pass you by. Concentrate by giving everything for the shirt
and for the club and then we can't ask any more from you.'
"We did that and we played some decent stuff at times. We had 12
corners in the game but at times our quality wasn't great but when
there were good balls going in there they defended well. They deal
with situations in both boxes very well and it's difficult."
Were you proud of the Gillingham performance? Have your
say below.
Saturday, January 07 2012
The KM Group does not moderate comments.
Please click here for our house rules.