Thatcham Town will bounce back

FA Cup defeat

Thatcham Town manager Danny Robinson was left frustrated after his side was denied an injury-time equaliser against Salisbury in the first qualifying round of the FA Cup. The Kingfishers went down 3-2 at home to Steve Claridge’s side at the Stacatruc Stadium, Felipe Barcelos and Scott Rees netting for Town, while George Colson, Tobias Holmes and Kevin Amankwaah were on target for the visitors.

But in second-half stoppage time, Thatcham looked to have snatched a replay when they had the ball in the net after Salisbury keeper Tom Smith failed to clear his lines. But referee Adam Baker disallowed the goal after ruling that Michael Miller had fouled Smith.

Robinson said: “We didn’t get beat by Salisbury, in my humble opinion, and I never blame referees because they have such a hard job to do, but every little decision went their way. “They were given a penalty. I thought we should have had a stonewall penalty and their goalkeeper has stood his ground and punched the ball into the back of his net – even the linesman gave it as a goal. “Let’s be honest, there was nothing wrong with what we did.”

Robinson expressed how proud he was of his side, who have started the season strongly, and said: “I felt that for the majority of the game, we had the ascendency and when they scored they slightly grew into the game. “I still think we kept the ball better than them and we moved it better, but set-pieces were always going to be a danger and I am annoyed with that because we could have done better.

“I am so proud of my players – each and every single one of them.”

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