NON-LEAGUE FOOTBALL: Boss Brett Whaley happy with his 10-man Hares after FA Vase exit
March Town manager Brett Whaley. Picture: IAN CARTER - Credit: Archant
March Town were dumped out of the FA Vase by Peterborough Northern Star for the second successive season - but boss Brett Whaley took plenty of positives from a second qualifying round defeat.
The 10-man Hares – who had striker Toby Allen sent off for collecting two cautions in the first half - were undone by a late goal when being beaten 1-0 by their higher-level hosts last Saturday.
Goalkeeper Simon Dalton then conceded and saved a penalty in the dying moments as March bowed out with their heads held high.
Whaley said: “It certainly didn’t look like there was a level between the two teams and it was often difficult to tell we had a man less for around 65 minutes of the game as well.
“It’s always gutting to be beaten by a late goal, but we can take lots of encouragement from our performance.
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“I demanded a reaction from the players after a really poor second half in our previous league game – and that’s exactly what they gave me.
“It was obviously a shame to see Toby sent off, but it was naïve rather than malicious. It’s all part of the learning process for young players.”
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March switch their focus to climbing the Thurlow Nunn League First Division North standings tomorrow.
They appear to have a golden opportunity to claim only a second league win of the campaign when hosting rock-bottom Felixstowe & Walton United at the GER, 3pm.
The Suffolk side have lost all eight of their First Division North fixtures, but Whaley has warned his men against complacency.
He added: “We feel our performances this season deserve a lot more points than we have actually picked up.
“But we can’t afford to dwell on the games that have already gone. We need to focus on going on a good run and hopefully that can start tomorrow.
“We need to make sure our performance is at the same level as it was in the FA Vase last weekend.”
