Motivated by pain
APHILOSOPHICAL Dave Challinor urged his County side to “use the pain of defeat” to go on to achieve future glory, as The Hatters missed out on promotion to League One after a 5-4 penalty shootout defeat to Carlisle United at Wembley on Sunday.
Tanto Olaofe’s deflected cross was cancelled out by Omari Patrick’s late leveller for The Cumbrians, with Ryan Rydel the heartbroken unfortunate party to miss the decisive penalty as Paul Simpson’s men secured promotion to the third tier.
It sees The Hatters’ first season back in the EFL in twelve years end just marginally short of back-toback promotions, and sets Challinor’s side up for another crack at League Two next time around.
“We need to use this feeling as motivation to get better. I’ve said exactly that to the players,” said Challinor.
“It hurts. But if it makes us better in the long run, then these experiences are good experiences. It’s not easy to feel that right now, but they are good experiences.”
Olaofe’s deflected cross looped over Carlisle stopper Tomas Holy late in the first half to give County the lead - but, after Akil Wright missed a glorious opportunity to double that lead early in the second half, substitute Patrick
levelled with just six minutes left of the ninety.
Further opportunities were exchanged in extra time, before Holy saved Rydel’s penalty and enabled Taylor Charters to step up and slam home the winning spot-kick.
“It’s tough to analyse. It’s a unique occasion and you get caught up in the emotion of the day - I’ve no idea what the game looked like as a contest,” said Challinor.
“We had control at certain times, and there were mad spells where it became a bit like basketball.
“Ultimately, it’s all ifs, buts and maybes, and we’ve lost on penalties which is heartbreaking.”
“We’re disappointed because we’ve given ourselves a chance, and we’ve not taken it.
“But I’ve said before, this club will be a League One club.
“Football moves on quickly, tomorrow is a new day, and we’re back for pre-season in three weeks’ time.
“Things move on quickly and we have a lot of work to get on with.”
Challinor refused to use County’s recent injury crisis as an excuse for his side falling short in their target of promotion, after the likes of Will Collar, Antoni Sarcevic and target man Kyle Wootton were all sidelined in recent weeks.
Whilst Wootton was ruled out for the remainder of the campaign last month, Sarcevic returned to slam home the winning penalty in the semi-final against Salford City last weekend, while Collar made a second-half Wembley cameo in which the former Brighton prospect’s fitness issues came to the fore in a struggling performance.
“Injuries certainly haven’t helped, but it’s no excuse.
“Teams all across the league have to contend with injuries. Ours came at a vital time for us, Wootts is a big miss and it was devastating for him not to play a part.
“But it just becomes now about getting people fit for the start of the season and having a more positive start than we did in this season.”
Former County boss Paul Simpson led his side back to the third tier at the expense of The Hatters, with County players and fans left to watch the approximately fifteen thousand Cumbrian fans celebrate with their team at the national stadium.
But Challinor credited his own side’s supporters for their backing of their team on the day, and promised that County will return and use this week’s pain as next season’s gain.
“It’s never nice to watch another team celebrate. We simply have to make sure the hollow feeling we all share is what drives us.
“I’ve been in this position before with losing play-offs.
“The jeopardy is huge, and nobody feels it more than the supporters.”
“They’ve ultimately been left disappointed, but I hope also proud of the team they have and a team they can resonate with.
“This club will be successful, and we all want to play our part in that together.
“We’ll recharge the batteries very quickly, and there is plenty to look forwards to ahead of the new season.”