Kentish Express Ashford & District
Heads held high despite FA Cup exit
There was pride in defeat for Kennington, who have vowed to learn from their FA Cup exit.
Ton lost 3-0 at home to Carshalton of the Isthmian Premier League in Saturday’s first qualifying round tie at Homelands.
Manager Dan Scorer had no complaints with the result and knows his Southern Counties East side gave everything against a team who play two levels above them.
“The way Carshalton played in the final third was the biggest difference,” said Scorer. “We’ve worked hard in the last couple of years to be strong defensively and this season has highlighted one or two things we need to improve on. “We’ll learn lessons from this game, too, but when you’re playing a side with the quality they’ve got, you just have to do the best you can.
“I can’t fault the boys, they put everything into it, we were just beaten by a better side. “Sometimes you can win a game and come off feeling like you’ve not done enough.
“But sometimes you can lose a big game and still come with a sense of fulfilment because you know you’ve given everything.
“I felt that, and I know most of the boys felt the same - I’m proud of what they put into it. “We set high standards and there was confidence in the group we could win.
“It’s important we keep that mindset, regardless of who the opposition are.” Man-of-the-match Joe Mant saved Daniel Bassett’s penalty before Carshalton went in front through Lewis White on 24 minutes
Mant made a string of saves but went off injured after Daniel Hector added the Robins’ second on 63 minutes. His replacement, teenager Sam Hignett, continued to keep Carshalton at bay before Dan Bennett’s strike took a big deflection off Ton’s Adam Phillips on 71 minutes. Kennington, having made all three substitutions, played the last 20 minutes a man down after Tom Scorer ruptured his Achilles.
“One or two people said to me it a wasn’t a 3-0 game but when you reflect and look at how many big saves Joe Mant made, I think 3-0 was a fair result,” said boss Scorer.
“He was exceptional - he kept us in the game for long periods.
“We lost him as the second goal went in - he felt a slight pull in his quad - and made the right decision to come off. “Sam Hignett came on and did brilliantly for a lad of 18. He made some fantastic saves as well.”
Kennington are without a game this weekend, which gives Mant and skipper Gary Clarke, who suffered a similar injury, time to recover. However, Tom Scorer looks set to be out for at least a month.