An agonising defeat, but Sports will bounce back

Football - FA Cup heartbreak for city side

Peterborough Sports manager Jimmy Dean insists his players can’t afford to feel sorry for themselves after their heartbreaking FA Cup defeat on Tuesday night.

The city side went out at the third qualifying round stage 7-6onpenaltiesaftera1-1 draw with fellow Southern League Premier Division side Banbury United in front of a club record crowd of 478 at the Bee Arena.

It wasanagonisingexitjust two wins from the first round proper for Dean and his players, especially former Posh man Jordan Nicholson who clipped the top of the crossbar with the decisive spotkick just 20minutesafterhe’d forced the shootout with an 80th-minute equaliser.

Sportsarenowdetermined to bounce back in a Premier Division Central fixture at Leiston on Saturday.

“I can’t put a positive spin on the night, apart from the size of the crowd and the atmosphere,” Dean said.

“Weareallgutted. This was agreatchancetogettothefirst roundproperforthefirsttime as there are so many beatable sides still in the competition.

“I feel for Jordan who

played with a knock.

“He was a substitute becausewethoughtwe’donlyget 25-30 minutes out of him, but he played for 70 minutes and got us back into the game. He’s only been with us a few weeks, but he wasdevastatedafterwards. That’s how quickly people get committed to our club.

“But we can’t afford to feel

sorry for ourselves and we won’t. Banbury did what a lot ofteamsarenowdoingagainst us by sitting deep and stopping us playing. It’s something we will have to get used to. It’s a compliment I guess.

“We’ve now played eight games and lost just one of them, but we’ve drawn five.

“We need to turn those

draws into wins. Those fine margins will be crucial in a tight league.

“We only have five points and yet we are only six points off the top.

“We beat Leiston 8-1 last season and they only have a couple of points this season, but they knocked Telford out of the FA Cup on Tuesday so they’ll be on a high.”

Nicholson and key midfielder Lewis Hilliard are both doubts for Saturday’s game.

Club record crowd at the Bee Arena for P’boro Sports.

Jordan Nicholson has his head in his hands after missing the crucial Sports penalty. Photo: James Richardson.