Rep XI manager blasts clubs for a lack of support

Football - The National Inter-League Cup

Peterborough & District League Rep XI manager Darren Fogg has hit out at member clubs for a lack of support after his side bowed out of the National Inter-League Cup in Dorset on Saturday.

The PDFL side went down narrowly 1-0 against the Dorset County League in a quarterfinal tie at Sherborne FC. It was a record run in the competition for the PDFL, but Fogg was frustrated at not travelling even further.

Fogg said: “Whilst I am really proud of the players, and I cannot speak highly enough of all the players who travelled along with the committee members & PDFL officials, these feelings are tinged with immense frustration and disappointment with the lack of support from top clubs and players, some of whom refused to travel, as well as a number of players who pulled out of the team at a very late stage.

“This is a prestigious FA competition and the other leagues involved take it very seriously, but for reasons I cannot figure out the clubs and players in the PDFL do not!

“Things need to change and I hope and trust that the

PDFL will make the necessary changes to ensure that when the competition comes back around, everyone and every club supports the rep team manager and the league in the competition.

“The game itself went well. We started on top and were much the better team only to concede a sloppy goal against the run of play on 35 minutes.

“However, the young team responded to our half-time team talk in the second-half and were led superbly by skipper Johnny Clay, who was the best player on the pitch, and we were very unlucky not to get something from the game.

“We really felt that with a bit of luck and a little more quality in the final third we could have progressed.

“Dorset only had one shot on goal and scored while we had three good chances and the Dorset keeper pulled off a tremendous save in the dying minutes from a Tom Leader header when everyone in the ground thought he has scored!

“What is more frustrating is that we had been drawn at home in the semi-final and that would have been unbelievable, but we will now always be wondering ‘what if!’”

Darren Fogg: ‘The PDFL clubs and players don’t take it seriously enough.’

The PDFL Rep team before the game in Dorset