Boss ‘embarrassed’ after Shots crash out of Trophy
JUST six days after a battling FA Cup exit against Championship side West Brom, Aldershot Town were knocked out of another cup - but this time boss Tommy Widdrington admitted he was “embarrassed” by his side at times.
Against West Brom, the Shots did themselves proud against higher league opposition for much of the game. But this time they capitulated against National League North side Bishop’s Stortford, as they crashed out of the FA Trophy at the fourth round stage with a 6-1 thumping.
Kane Crichlow was the star of the show for the Hertfordshire hosts, scoring five goals, with Darren Foxley getting the other.
Lorent Tolaj got a consolation for the Shots in the 74th minute, but in truth the game was probably over by the end of the opening 45 minutes by which time the hosts were 4-0 up.
And Widdrington admitted Bishop’s Stortford looked like they wanted to win the game more than their National League top tier visitors.
“I don’t use the word ‘embarrassed’ very often because I don’t very often represent teams that I’m embarrassed by,” Widdrington explained. “But for periods of that game I was. Not in terms of the whole game but I didn’t see us improving the situation we’d put ourselves in.
“It was just unacceptable the way individuals played and therefore collectively. We’ve given them however many goals.
“I know we haven’t been watertight in terms of defence all season but we trade that off because we score goals but today you saw 11 lads who put their bodies and their head and everything they had between us and their goal and we didn’t do that well enough. Simple as that.
“People might have a go at Jordi [van Stappershoef] because of six goals he’s picked out the back of his net, and he’s just so exposed. It’s not right and I’ll be doing things about that now.
“Anybody who was here will realise we’ve had the ball all the game, but every time we’ve passed the ball or they’ve won it back, they’ve just walked through the middle of our pitch like a knife through butter and just exposed our goalkeeper.
“We had a chance early on, where, had that gone in, things may well have been different. But I take nothing away from Bishop’s Stortford, who 100 per cent thoroughly deserved to win the game. That’s nothing to do with football; that’s just to do with application, attitude and determination.
“It hurts me to say there were 11 lads out there in blue who looked like they wanted it more than my lads in blue and white and that sticks in my craw.”
It is back to the National League on Saturday for Aldershot as they visit Kidderminster Harriers before hosting Bromley on Tuesday night.
“We’ll have to learn quick because if we play like that, or if we defend like that out of possession in our division then 6-1 will be a great result for us,” he warned. “It’s just unacceptable what we’ve seen there today, and I’m never one to criticise individuals in public, I’ll praise them if they’ve done well.
“I genuinely think out of the team that started, and the subs that came on, there’s only two who started and one of the subs who did what I would have expected them to do. That is just not normal for us, we didn’t prepare any differently, we didn’t give them any less information about the opposition that we do.”