New Mills manager Tony Hancock and Club Secretary Duncan Hibbert offered their thoughts on New Mills' exit from the FA Vase after the game.
Tony Hancock:
The team played poorly and we were beaten by a better side in the second half who wanted to win the game more. I don't understand how these lads sat in the New Mills dressing room in the last 16 (of the Vase) chose not to show spirit and fight when you can go and play at Wembley.
We camped out in their half in the first half, but the intricate passing that we had at St Helens and in other recent games wasn't there, we looked a bit sluggish. We had chances to go in front and we didn't take them. Adam Mather had a couple of chances, but he was back for his first game after being out for a while and he looked a bit out of sorts.
I didn't think they played particularly well in the first half, in fact I thought they were poor and if we could have capitalised on that, we would have come out with the bit between our teeth a bit more in the second half.
But by not going in front in the first half we didn't settle down. We didn't play the football we normally play, and fair play to them, they went on and won it.
You try and think what the other manager is thinking, and I'm sure they thought that if they got to half time and it was still 0-0 they might have a chance in the second half, and that proved to be right.
Obviously losing Carlos didn't help (early in the second half), it might have changed the game a little bit, but it's not all about one player. We didn't have him when we played St Helens who were fifth and we won 4-0 and were outstanding, it's the best performance I've seen as New Mills manager.
But today we weren't our normal selves, and our passing game wasn't good.
We've still got a lot to play for, if we win our games in hand we go second in the league and we've got to chase Newcastle Town. We've got a semi final against Matlock (in the Derbyshire Senior Cup) and we're still in the League Challenge Cup. You win some and lose some and today we lost.
Duncan Hibbert:
Disappointment doesn't even come close to describing how everybody at the Club felt. Maybe it's a measure of the progression that the Club has made over the last couple of seasons, that getting knocked out of the last sixteen of a national competition is seen as such a disappointment.
If Norton had come and played us off the park then maybe it would have been easier to accept, but we know that we had chances, particularly in the first half, to score. Norton, though, took their opportunities and the opening goal was a great strike. It goes without saying that we wish them well for the remainder of the competition.
Our plight was hampered when Carlos had to leave the field only a minute into the second half. He suffered a very nasty wound to his foot which was so deep, you could see the bone. It wasn't pleasant believe me. Following a trip to Stepping Hill Hospital, x rays thankfully disproved the early diagnosis of a broken foot, but eight stitches means that Carlos will be missing for a week or two.
Carlos came back to the club to pick up his kit and I saw the pictures he took of the wound on his phone, not one for the squeamish.
We fell off the bike on Saturday but get back on it on Monday night against Maine Road and we've still got a lot to play for this season starting with the bread and butter of the League. We're the holders of the League Cup and looking forward to a successful defence, and we travel to Matlock Town of the Unibond League next Tuesday in the semi final of The Derbyshire Senior Cup.
