David Ball looked back at the FA Cup defeat to Aldershot and admitted that the players left it too late, after his goal triggered hope of a dramatic comeback.
By Mike McGoughDavid Ball looked back at the FA Cup defeat to Aldershot and admitted that the players left it too late, after his goal triggered hope of a dramatic comeback.
Town missed out on a place in the third round for the second year running as the visitors capitalised on their half time lead and ultimately went through to a home game against Rotherham or Notts County.
Ball, who hasn’t made it past the second round is his own career, expressed his bitter disappointment at missing out on the possibility of meeting a big side in the competition and the fact that the defeat could have been avoided.
He said: “For me individually, I think it is a massive loss for us. I’ve been unfortunate to go out most of the time at this stage and I’d love to play someone big, but we’ve all lost that chance today. I think it was ultimately down to ourselves.
“I thought the first 10 or 15 minutes we looked comfortable - we got the first goal, but then they nicked a poor one on our behalf and we just seemed to lose our shape and as a team we didn’t deal with the situation. I managed to get the goal and I think we had about eight minutes but it was just too late.
“You won’t hit many better than that and again, it was another stray pass from us, and I think their second was a mix up in our defence which costs you games. We are just really disappointed.”
The defeat means Fleetwood are on their worst run of the season, amidst a third consecutive defeat, but the striker believes that the players can pull through the rut, with play-off rivals Southend the next to arrive at Highbury on Saturday.
“We know that we are going through this situation, which most teams do go through at some point. We just need to get together as lads and as a group and maybe have a few things out and look ahead to next weekend and really show people that we can bounce back. We’ve got big enough players and enough experienced players to do that.”
“We just mentioned about it in the dressing room. Southend will come here and they’ll be one of the favourites to get into the play-off spots, so it’ll be a tough game but it’s one that we’ve all got to go into 110% and give it our best for everyone here at the club.”
Ball is on a good run of games in the side and is delighted from a personal point of view that he is getting himself on the score sheet, as his late goal at the weekend put his tally up to five.
“I’m finding my match fitness with my current run and I’m getting there. Their lads saved one on the line which I was disappointed about, but I’m just happy to get the goal but it is just unfortunate about the result.”
The defeat ultimately cost manager Micky Mellon his position.
