Ipswich Town captain Sam Morsy addresses shock FA Cup exit to Maidstone United
Ipswich Town skipper Sam Morsy stated that the side feel that they have ‘let the fans down’ after the Blues’ shock FA Cup defeat to sixth-tier Maidstone United at Portman Road.
Town were beaten 2-1 after third-round hero Sam Corne slotted the ball home with composure in the second half, to send the Vanarama National League South outfit through to the last 16 of the competition.
The visitors from Kent had sent their 4,472 travelling fans into raptures in the first half as Lamar Reynolds gave George Elokobi’s side the lead with an audacious dink over Christian Walton.
The Blues came out with intent in the second 45 and equalised with a well-taken finish from Jeremy Sarmiento, who netted his second goal of the week.
But soon after, the Stones broke and found the winner in the 66th minute and as much as they pushed, the Blues could not find a leveller to spoil Maidstone’s party.
“I don’t think you can ever be angry because we had 98 minutes to give everything. It’s more that you feel deflated after and you feel disappointed. You feel like you’ve let the fans down and there’s just a real disappointment to be honest,” said Morsy.
“It’s definitely not the result we wanted today. I think on the game, we got a lot of things right, we had a lot of shots, ‘keeper’s made some great saves, we’ve hit the woodwork a couple of times and there were lots of good things to like about us today.
“Unfortunately, on the breaks we didn’t manage it quite good enough. I don’t remember them breaking too many times but it seemed like they scored two goals from it. That’s something we have to get better with.
f you have 38 shots, woodwork hit a couple of times and if you can only score one goal from it then you probably put the game in the balance, and that’s what we did. We should have scored more today.
“I think we had five or six really clear-cut chances which we should have done better with. But, fair play to the ‘keeper, he’s made some brilliant saves. It’s bitterly disappointing, it’s a great day for them but it hurts, we have to bounce back and be better.”
While he admitted the fans might not like to hear it, Morsy admitted that there were positives to take from the defeat and was proud of his side’s application throughout the contest.
“It’s a disaster of a day but you can never question the desire and the application of the players, which for me is the biggest positive. I’d rather lose how we lost today than lose not fancying the game.
