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Ebbsfleet's FA Cup penalty shoot-out defeat to Chippenham was hard to take says manager Dennis Kutrieb

Ebbsfleet’s FA Cup exit was hard to take according to manager Dennis Kutrieb.

The Fleet boss felt his team were the better side for long periods against Chippenham but that they ultimately paid the price for failing to make the most of their opportunities.

Ebbsfleet manager Dennis Kutrieb. Picture: Keith Gillard (42688147)
Ebbsfleet manager Dennis Kutrieb. Picture: Keith Gillard (42688147)

“Of course it is hard to take,” he said. “We played a good game, I only saw one team play football and the other team only defends. But you need to bring the result.

“We made a big mistake in the first half when they got the lead. We equalised in the 89th minute and it was a bit too late, if we’d equalised six or seven minutes earlier we could have scored another goal.

“For penalties, it is always lucky or unlucky like it was for us. When you need nine or 10 penalties to decide a game then someone has to lose and someone has to win.”

Kutrieb made seven changes from the team that drew with Dulwich in National League South.

The Fleet lacked consistency in their play at times but the manager was pleased with the effort his team put in.

On the changes, he added: “We have a big squad as we’ve talked about a lot of times. I’m not a man who only talks about things.

“All of them want to play, they deserve to play and they can show they are better than the others. It is all about minutes, show that you are good enough for our squad and are prepared to win the game for us.

“It wasn’t enough as we didn’t win and the only thing in football is to get the right result and we didn’t get is so I’m very unhappy.

“They have to keep their heads up but I think they know what they did. I can’t say they didn’t bring their best or had a bad performance. It’s only about results and not more.

“We can play on the floor and create chances but we have to finish and score goals. We didn’t do that and that’s the reason why we’re not in the next round.

“We have enough players, they want to learn and get better. They tried their best but regardless if we win or lose, we need more time.

“Everyone will see we played a good style of football and their manager came and apologised for their win because he said we were the much better team. But it doesn’t matter, it’s all about results.”

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