Melton Town 3
Pinchbeck United 1
Pinchbeck United manager Lewis Thorogood says his side are the underdogs but capable of making yet more history in the FA Vase at Congleton Town this Saturday.
The Knights travel to Cheshire for the last 32 of the national competition with a fully fit squad for the 3pm kick off.
But they face a tough tie against a side sixth in the North West Counties Football League who have won five of their last six.
Pinchbeck had not won a game in an FA competition before this season while Congleton are looking to qualify for the fifth round of the Vase for a second year in a row.
The Knights though have defied the odds several times already in the competition and are hoping it’s a distraction from their current disappointing league form.
“We’ve been doing a lot of preparations this week and watched a lot of videos of the opposition,” said Thorogood. “We go there as the underdogs.
“I don’t think we’re favourites as Congleton have a very good home record. They’re a good side with pedigree in this competition as well.
“We’ve got to go there, enjoy the occasion and leave it all out there.
“We’ve got nothing to lose as no-one is expecting us to do this at Congleton.
“It’s a one-off hit and we’ve shown we can do that in this competition already with our wins over Deeping and Dunkirk.
“We’ve got to go out there with no fear, give it our best and see where it takes us.
“We know we’ve got the quality to create and take chances.
“Whatever happens, it’s a huge and proud moment for the club.”
Vase victories are the only ones Pinchbeck have to show in recent weeks as they fell to a fifth league defeat in a row at Melton Town on Saturday.
The Knights shipped three goals in the opening 21 minutes though Neal Spafford gave them hope just before half time.
They created a host of chances in the second half but were unable to take any of them to get back into the game.
The result drops Pinchbeck down to 16th in the United Counties League Premier Division.
“We could’ve scored six,” Thorogood said. “We missed some absolute sitters, including two open goals and one chance hit the post when we should have scored.
“But you can’t afford to concede three goals in the first 20 minutes and expect to get anything out of the game.
“All of the goals came from individual errors due to a lack of concentration too.
“If we do that at Congleton we’d be five down from the way we played never mind three.
“We have to go there and give it everything.”
Knights: Smith, Perry-Burdett (Stevens 70), Millar, Burdass, Worthington, Robson, Spafford, Viera (Weir-Daly 64), Peasgood (Melson 78), Williams, Foster (Johnson 78),
Attendance: 203.
