Chippenham Town manager Gary Horgan was proud of his side’s second half display in their FA Cup defeat to Burton.
Despite suffering a heavy 6-1 loss to the League One outfit, Horgan felt that his side showcased their quality in the second period.
He said: “I thought in the second half, certainly for the first 15 minutes, we were the better side.
“We were on top for 15 minutes and then they scored on the break because we were chasing the game a little bit.
“But in the second half that was us, that’s how we’ve been playing. We’ve got a number of talented footballers and when we get them all on the pitch at the same time we’re a good side.
“We can be really, really proud of the second half performance”.
The Bluebirds were unable to threaten the Burton Albion defence in first half and found themselves pinned back by a team 71 league places above them.
The Brewers made their dominance count and took control of the tie thanks to first half goals from Jonny Smith and Deji Oshilaja.
Horgan felt that his team were much improved after the break thanks to a change in approach.
He added: “I set us up first half to be tight and competitive. We got in at half time 2-0 down and the plan was to change things to allow us to get everybody on the pitch who could really go and affect the game in a positive way for us.
“I think we gave a better account of ourselves second half. It was a disappointing first half because I thought we were a bit passive, but ultimately we need to remember that we’ve been beaten by a League One side”.
Chippenham caused their hosts some issues and gave travelling fans something to cheer when Harry Parsons notched their first ever second round goal, but Burton took advantage of them on the counter attack.
Bobby Kamwa made it 3-0 before Parsons’ strike was wiped out by a Sam Winnall double and a second for Oshilaja.
Horgan pointed to the third goal as the game’s key moment but argued that the five goal deficit was harsh on his players.
He said: “The third one is the absolute killer because if we came back to 2-1 rather than 3-1 then there’s a greater sense of belief.
“(Conceding) six goals isn’t reflective of how well we played in the second half but credit to Burton they were clinical”.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here