Devizes Town 0 Brockenhurst 1 (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Devizes Town 0 Brockenhurst 1

8:04am Tuesday 25th September 2007 in Football

FA Vase

Devizes Town boss Paul Thompson said he is not fazed by his side's exit from the FA Vase.

The Nursteed Road outfit lost a heartbreaker in extra time to Wessex Premier League team Brockenhurst.

But Thompson said the league is the most important competition the club is involved in.

He added he was more concerned about the number of injuries picked up in the game than the actual result.

"It's disappointing to go out, but I want to concentrate on the league," he said.

"We are out of the FA Cup and the Vase, which doesn't look too good, but the league is by far and away the most important thing.

"Of course, we would have liked a good run in the Vase because, unlike the FA Cup, it is a competition that is winnable.

"It was a really close game and Brockenhurst were a very good side.

"I thought we competed well and we had a great chance to win it, but it was just one of those games where no one really looked like scoring on either side.

"In extra time we were dead on our feet.

"We had three players on the pitch who were injured and shouldn't really have been on, but we had made all the substitutions by then.

"If we had drawn, we would have had to go to Brockenhurst on Tuesday with a lot of injuries, so maybe it wasn't a bad thing."

The game was an incredibly tight affair and both sides produced strong, well-organised displays.

Devizes lost keeper Owen Dunn to a hip injury midway through the second half.

Kris Beasley also had to come off with a knock to his knee, while Andy Brien and Josh Digby both finished the game with problems.

Lance Lewis had a golden opportunity to win the tie late on for the home side.

Lewis went clean through on goal in the 85th minute, but fired his shot wide of goal.

The game went to extra time when, again, both sides had trouble carving out opportunities.

However, with five minutes left before a penalty shoot-out, Brockenhurst broke Devizes hearts.

"I think, in the 90 minutes, we had the one chance to win the game, but we didn't take it and paid dearly for it," said Thompson.

Attention now turns to Saturday's Les Phillips Cup encounter at Roman Glass St George.

"They are newly promoted to the league below us and have had some good results," said Thompson.

"It will be another tough game for us and we will treat it like any other, but from my point of view, a run in the Les Phillips Cup is not as important as the league."