Shaw frustrated by Tigers' FA Vase exit

Mark Shaw felt his side were beaten by a very strong Newton Aycliffe side in the FA Vase last weekend but that didn't decrease the frustration he felt at the result.
Mark ShawMark Shaw
Mark Shaw

The Northern League outfit scored four goals in 16 first-half minutes to secure their progress to the next round, the result being the third defeat in a row for the Tigers, with no goals scored in the process.

And although Shaw felt his side matched Newton Aycliffe for good periods of the game, the four-goal blitz proved fatal.

He said: “We began well and if Connor Brunt had put a good chance away early on then it could have been different.

“But Newton Aycliffe are a really good attacking side and put us to the sword very quickly. Two of their goals were certainly deserved but the others came from an error on our part and a penalty decision I thought was harsh.

“I told the players at half-time that I wanted to see signs of a fightback and to show that they all cared, and our display was certainly better in the second-half, but you can see that their confidence is shot at the moment.”

Tigers now prepare to head to fifth-placed Albion Sports in the NCEL Premier on Wednesday aiming to arrest a run of form that has increased the pressure on Shaw.

The Worksop boss added: “The players are trying really hard and are showing me good things in training. We’ve not had much luck in some cases - against Rainworth we made four mistakes and that cost us the game and against Bridlington I felt the ref did us few favours.

“I just want us to go back to being difficult to beat. It’s hard to bring new players in at the moment because quite a few are turned off by what other players say about us on things like social media and by the fact a section of the home support is really against us too.

“It hurts, every defeat hurts and the poor form hurts, but we’ll keep trying to get it right.”

Following the game at Albion Sports, Worksop then go to Maltby Main on Saturday as their run of away games throughout November continues.