The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Pinchbeck United 0 Skegness Town 1
Boss Lewis Thorogood was happy with what he saw from his Pinchbeck United side on Saturday – despite witnessing their exit from this year’s Emirates FA Cup.
A solitary strike from James Petronzio 20 minutes from time saw Skegness Town progress from the all-Uhlsport UCL Premier Division North Extra Preliminary Round clash at the Sir Halley Stewart Playing Field.
The Knights also ended the Lincolnshire derby with ten men, with defender Cameron Baldock-Smith controversially shown a second yellow card.
Thorogood, who fancies Skegness as one of up to eight sides who could contest for the league title the season, felt his team did well to frustrate the Lilywhites.
But he admitted the right team won on the day.
“Skegness are as good as I expected,” said the Pinchbeck chief. “If you look at their side, most of them would be more than comfortable at the next level up.
“They’ve got a very nice blend and a deep squad, so you’d expect that they’ll be right up there in the league this season.
“Our plan was to frustrate them and stay in the game for as long as we could.
“I think it worked well and the biggest compliment we could have had was that they changed their formation to counter what we were doing.
“The longer the game went on, the more I felt we were going to get a replay as the worst case scenario.
“But we couldn’t deny that they were the dominant side and, when the goal came, it was deserved.
“I think that the Pinchbeck of old would have lost the game by four, five or six.
“So, even though I never like losing a game, that is a small positive we can take.
“I’m not happy about the red card at the end, so it’s best for all concerned if I say nothing about it.
“We gave a good account of ourselves overall and the signs are encouraging as far as I’m concerned.”
Knights: Smith, Worthington, Stevens (Holland 85), Machin (Havard 80), Baldock-Smith, Fixter, Melson, Opayinka, Knight (Johnson 80), Waumsley, Moss. Not used: H Taylor, T Taylor, Brown, Oldham
Attendance: 106.
