Tonbridge boss Steve McKimm said he’ll take the blame for their FA Cup thrashing rather than his players.

Angels lost 7-0 to a classy League 2 Bradford side, who were in control from first whistle to last at Longmead in their First Round clash on Saturday.

McKimm feared that his players would come under attack for their display and was keen to put a protective arm around the squad.

“I am being harsh on myself but I’ll take the blame because those players don’t deserve it,” he stated.

“If those players get any criticism from social media or anybody from outside of this club it’s not deserved because they put everything into that game that they could.

“They weren’t good enough, I wasn’t good enough so the one that’s going to take the blame will be me, to protect the players and to get them ready for Monday (against Chelmsford in the league).

“I’ll watch it back before I start saying we let people down or stuff like that, because I don’t think we did.

“I think the boys gave the best they could and they were beaten by the better side.”

Tonbridge kept going despite Bradford showing a clinical touch in front of goal.

The final scoreline looks bad on McKimm’s men despite their best efforts – and that’s the manager’s biggest disappointment.

“I’m a little bit devastated that it’s 7-0 because I wanted to put a good show on and show what we can do but we came up against a Bradford side that are on top form,” said McKimm.

“We couldn’t compete with them, as simple as that. We’re a non-league side and they’re a Football League side and they proved that.

“I feel for the players. You never want to get beaten in the first round of the FA Cup if you make it this far, and you never want to get beaten by seven.

“I maybe went a bit too adventurous which I take on the chin to start with, but as times goes on the players have got to realise that needs must and you have to shut up shop. We tried to change it again to nullify them and they still went through and scored two (more) goals.

“They’ve had a good journey, they’ve earned the club some money and had exposure by being on the TV. It’s been a good run, we just didn’t want it to end like that.

“You don’t want to get beaten by seven. It’s a nightmare.”

Angels trailed 2-0 in the first 15 minutes but a change of shape on the half-hour saw them come back into the contest, only for Bradford to score a third on the stroke of half-time following a contentious free-kick decision.

“The first one was a killer blow and then 2-0 down in 15 minutes was a mountain to climb,” reflected the Tonbridge boss.

“The third goal was a foul to us on Alex Akrofi, he worked ever so hard to get back and the bloke’s pulled him back. That’s killed us. When it was 2-0, it’s always a dodgy scoreline.

“Ifs, buts and maybes are the greatest clichés in football. You’ve got to get on with the facts and the facts were we didn’t score, the ref gave them a free-kick, they went and scored, and they scored another four in the second half.

“We got beat fair and square, we’ll take it on the chin and move on. We tried our best and they were 10 times better than us and that’s a matter of fact.

“I didn’t think I went with the wrong formation. I knew what I was going to change if we were struggling and hence we changed it, and we got a couple of half-chances. The thing that kills you is the third goal before half-time.

“We had to go in and pick them up because they’re fuming. We went out with the same thing that we tried to put pressure on them playing out but their movement was brilliant.

“You can’t coach people running, if people run off the back of you anywhere on the pitch and you don’t follow them, then you’re going to come unstuck.

“There were some good bits in there. I realise who we were playing – a former League 1 side who are League 2 now. I don’t know much about League 2 but if they play like that every week, I can’t see them being too far off the top part.”

• Match report: Tonbridge 0 Bradford 7

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