‘Nothing worse in football’ – Hinshelwood on what upset him as Worthing FC slipped out of FA Trophy at Gloucester
Adam Hinshelwood wants the poor defending that cost Worthing their place in the FA Trophy to be a one-off.
The Rebels exited the Trophy when they lost a penalty shootout 5-3 at the end of a 3-3 draw at Gloucester City, who play a division below them in the non-league pyramid.
He criticised some of the defending that allowed City to score three goals in 14 second-half minutes – meaning strikes by Teddy Jenks and Jack Spong (2) were not enough.
But Hinshelwood also said: “We win together and lose together – it’s collective responsibility and we’ll move forward together.”
The manager did not feel his players turned up at Gloucester expecting an easy afternoon, but felt the way the hosts let them have a lot of possession may have lulled them into a false sense of security.
They’ll look to put it behind them when they return to National League South action at home to Farnborough on Saturday. They go into the game in second spot and only three points off top spot.
Hinshelwood said: “The manner of the goals we let in was loose. We didn’t show enough desire.
“And there’s nothing worse in football than to be on the sidelines when it looks like your team are being outworked and the opposition want it more.
“But we’re analysing it and in fairness to out players they always respond well when things are pointed out to them. We’ll learn lessons from it.”
The exit means all eyes are on the promotion bid for the block of games, with the Farnborough clash the first of four games in 15 days, three of them coming at home.
Hinshelwood added: “We must aim to defend with more passion and still have our own attacking threat.”
“We’re looking forward to some home games in front of big crowds now.”
Hinshelwood expects to need to rotate his squad over the busy next few weeks – saying there is a lot of science now in looking at players’ performance levels and judging who if anyone needs a rest and when.