Williams disappointed with lack of quality as Gloucester City settle for shootout win against Hartpury

Gloucester City Manager Daf Williams says he was disappointed with the lack of quality in the final third his side showed as they were taken to penalties in the FA Trophy by Hartpury.

Following a 0-0 draw in 90 minutes, which saw City dominate the ball but create only a handful of clear cut chances for their efforts, the Tigers had to settle for a 5-4 win on penalties, which even though they won, saw them miss three spot kicks.

And after the game, Williams spoke to Butler for BBC Radio Gloucestershire and admitted that whilst his side did plenty right and showed positives, he was disappointed to see his side unable to create enough chances to really test Ryan Smallwood.

“I think we did a lot of things right, but I think it was as simple as the quality in the final third,” said Williams.

“We should have made the afternoon a lot more comfortable than it was, but we failed to produce in the final third today for different reasons and that’s not just strikers, that’s wing backs, that’s midfielders. You know, everyone’s got a responsibility to produce quality in that part of the pitch.

I think everything up until the final third was positive. I think our work without the ball was positive, our attitude, our endeavour, our effort wasn’t in question at all. It was quite simply quality in the final third and that is 100% the biggest disappointment.

We’ve got the quality. I think we’ve proved that in many games this season in terms of chances created and the goals that we’ve scored.

But today might just been one of those days. We’;; look at the game, we’ll address it, we’ll look to improve on it because you can’t just let things like that go,” added Williams.

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Despite the disappointment at how the game went, the crucial fact for Gloucester City is that they have advances into the First Round proper of the FA Trophy and following a last gasp defeat against Chippenham Town in the FA Cup last month, Williams reiterated the importance of a decent cup run for City – not just financially, but for the memories for the supporters and building a winning mentality.

“[Having a run in the FA Trophy] it’s huge. But also it’s about developing a winning mindset and mentality throughout the club.

I think the starting 11 that we chose today is a reflection of what our intentions are. I think from the whispers and what I’d heard before the game, there was a couple of eyebrows raised from how strong we went.

But it’s a signal of our intention, not just for this competition, just in terms of it’s a game of football, so we’ll do everything that we can to win the game.

The FA Trophy is, in my opinion, a great competition. Any competition where you’ve got Wembley as a potential outcome is a great competition. And I think we’ve got a quality group of players.

I said it to yourselves before the FA Cup game against Chippenham, I want this football club to experience some success. And I want to create memories, I want to create history. And this competition gives us an opportunity to do that,” added Williams.

Gloucester City are back in league action on Saturday 11 October, when they host 4th placed Sholing to New Meadow Park in a crucial Southern League Premier Division fixture.

Cover photo taken and copyright Jamie Brain Photography. Visit his Instagram @jamiebrain_photography