‘We just kept on going’
LANGTON PRAISES PLAYERS AFTER SHOTS COME BACK TO WIN
HUGO LANGTON admitted Aldershot Town’s players deserved both ‘criticism and credit’ after they came back from 2-0 down to progress in the FA Trophy on Saturday.
Jayden Harris gave home-side Eastleigh the lead in the eighth minute and Paul McCallum made it 2-0 in the 55th minute of the third round tie.
However, the Shots found a foothold in the game through substitute Jack Barham just after the hour mark and then Haji Mnoga equalised in the 74th minute.
The game, a Hampshire derby between two National League top tier sides, went to penalties with the two teams still level at the end of the 90.
Kwame Thomas, Cian Harries, Lorent Tolaj and Tyler Frost all scored for the Shots, but with Coby Rowe missing the target, the shootout was tied a 4-4 after the first five spot-kicks.
In to sudden death, keeper Jordi van Stappershoef saved Eastleigh midfielder Nigel Atangana’s penalty and Barham found the net, earning the Shots a place in the next round.
Aldershot assistant manager Hugo Langton gave an honest assessment of the Shots’ performance.
“I don’t think we were at our best in the first half,” Langton said. “To give credit to Eastleigh they came out and started strong on the front foot, but whilst they had a lot of territory I don’t think they caused us too many problems in terms of chances created.
“But we were really disappointed with how we played in the first half and the second half was much much better in the end.
“Sometimes you’ve got to take a little bit of criticism on the chin if you’re a player, staff, media, you know, you get a little bit of critique from me. We didn’t look like us we weren’t playing like us, we weren’t passing the ball like us. The things that are our identity just weren’t present. But it was more so in the second half.
“Sometimes you’ve got to not necessarily tinker with stuff, I mean we moved a few players around positionally, it’s more just about reminding us of who we are and where we’re at,” Langton said. “We’ve come from 2-0 down quite a few times this season. The players deserve a lot of credit because they don’t know when they’re done and they just keep going and keep going and keep going. When Jack came on and made it 2-1 we had that feeling kind of, like at Bromley, that we can go on. The players deserve the credit. They deserve a bit of criticism for the first-half performance but they do deserve the credit for keep going and going and going and good on them.”
The Shots were without manager Tommy Widdrington in the dugout, the former Southampton midfielder serving a ban, but they then lost another member of the coaching team as co-assistant manager Richard Dryden received a straight red in the first half at Eastleigh.
Without Widdrington and Dryden, it was down to Langton to oversee the comeback and penalties, but the former Lewes boss insists he always knew he’d turn to Barham - a decision that ultimately swung the game in the Shots’ favour.
“I know how Tommy thinks and what he wants,” Langton said. “You know sometimes he can look at me from up in the stands and I can’t always hear him, and sometimes I choose not to hear him, but I know what he wants and he wanted Jack on the pitch. That was clear, so that’s what we did.
“We’d spoken about it at half-time to be fair. There was a lot of space in behind them and we felt we just weren’t exploiting it enough and Jack Barham is very good at that.
“The players deserve the credit. When the full-time whistle went, I asked a very simple question ‘who wants a penalty?’ and they all volunteered and they were all down to take a penalty. I think that speaks volumes about them.”
Aldershot will face Bishop’s Stortford away in the fourth round of the Trophy, with ties due to take place on Saturday, January 13.
Before then, Aldershot face Eastleigh, again, but this time in a National League fixture at the EBB Stadium, on Saturday.
The players deserve a lot of credit because they don’t know when they’re done. Hugo Langton