Saints have their quintuple hopes dashed
ST MARTIN’S quest for the quintuple of trophies fell at the Track on Tuesday, though a threadbare squad for the champions pushed Rovers all the way to penalties before losing 5-3.
‘I’m really proud of the efforts the boys put in today so soon after the Upton,’ said coach Leon Meakin.
‘I thought we were the better team throughout to be honest, but we looked a bit leggy, looked mentally tired, though the longer the game went on, the stronger I thought we got.’
He admitted that with a Wheway Cup final and Jeremie Cup semi-final still to come, the FA Cup was the competition least important to his squad.
‘But if we were going to sacrifice it I would have rather done it in 90 minutes rather than 120.
‘It will be interesting to see how we recover for Saturday [a Jeremie semi against St Peter] but we’ve got fresh legs to come back and I’ve got every confidence in them.’
Opposite number Kevin Gillease was delighted to have the opportunity to claim the club’s first FA Cup.
‘It was hard, tough match, they are some team,’ he said.
‘We were looking like we were managing the game out after we took the lead, but they always seem to force something, credit to them.
‘It was about sticking to it, believing that you were going to get another chance, and I thought we looked like we were going to score.’
Report in Thursday's Guernsey Press.
