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MORSLEY STILL HURTING 02/05/2008
"The pain of defeat should drive you on to greater things. We will just have to go out and win it next year," said a bitterly disappointed Mark Morsley, manager of Ryman League Division One North play-off semi final losers AFC Sudbury.
Morsley (pictured) was "bitterly disappointed" at Tuesday night`s defeat, but is now looking ahead to next season and another shot at promotion.
Sudbury were beaten 3-2 after extra-time by Canvey Island, after twice coming from behind, in atrocious conditions at King's Marsh Stadium.
"Our performance re-affirmed my belief in the team. After a poor run it was important to put that level of performance on, and we very nearly made it."
Morsley feels the whole season has been "a bit spoiled by the last month", with Sudbury winning just one game in six in the league in April against four from five in March.
"But we have made a lot of progress this season," he said. "I wanted us not to drop so many points at home, to score more goals, and we have. And I think we have played better football this season.
"If it takes us three years to get up to the premier division, OK. We finished fifth last season, and second this. So next season we have to go for the title."
Morsley has never blamed injuries for Sudbury`s loss of form over the last month of the season. "But they did prove crucial, and history tells you teams that win play-offs come into them in good form."
He felt Tuesday night was "a huge ask for the players coming back from injury. It was probably our best eleven, or pretty close to it, and I felt that if we clicked, we could win it.
"Right to the death I believed we could do it, and still go up, although after all that effort another 90 minutes on Saturday would have been hard."
Canvey, he felt, had settled for penalties as extra time wore on, Sudbury having twice fought back from behind. "We were trying to win, and gave it our best shot.
"But through adversity you learn a bit more about your players and yourself as a manager. It was a tough dressing room afterwards. Some were emotional, some were quiet. You deal with it in different ways, but they were all gutted."
Morsley is now arranging player meetings and contract talks, and hopes to get the squad virtually settled by the club's end-of-season awards evening on May 30th. Pre-season training starts on Monday, June 16th.
Morsley's high points of the season were beating Chelmsford City, runaway winners of the Ryman Premier, in the League Cup; pushing King`s Lynn to the limit in the FA Trophy; and keeping pace with Dartford during Sudbury`s superb thirteen-game unbeaten run between December and March.
The low points, other than Tuesday, were the penalty shoot-out defeat by Ramsgate in the League Cup final, and some indifferent results in two of the derby games against Bury Town.
A testimonial game has been arranged for long-serving Terry Rayner, who has missed much of the season through injury and recently underwent a knee operation. Conference South Bishop`s Stortford will visit King's Marsh on Saturday, August 2nd.
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