LYE Town chairman Brian Blakemore has defended the club’s decision to pull out of the JW Hunt Cup.

Town were facing a quarter-final clash with Black Country Rangers this Saturday until Stourbridge Road officials decided against extending the current campaign in pursuit of some end-of-season silverware.

It now means Wolverhampton Sporting Community will step in to fulfill the fixture instead.

Blakemore said: “I think we have done the right thing for the club and the players. We are still only at the quarter-final stage and it looks like the competition is going to go on for some time yet.

“We just think it is all a bit too much, too late. The players are in need of a rest now before we start to look ahead to next season.

“It wasn’t an easy decision by any means, but we feel it is the right one.

“We have also been trying to arrange the game with Black Country Rangers for the past two months without any joy.

“We have nothing against the competition and are planning on entering next season just the same.”

The enforced cup exit comes after Lye were knocked out of the league cup at the semi-final stage last Thursday.

A 0-0 draw in the second leg against Walsall Wood saw manager Martin Thomas’ side crash out after their opponents had bagged a valuable away goal when the sides previously drew 1-1.

Blakemore added: “It was disappointing. It would have been great if we could have made the final but the teams were very closely matched.

“I think we will look back at the first leg as the key moment. We feel we should have won that but instead we drew and it made the second leg very difficult."

“We pressed hard but just couldn’t find a way through. It came down to fine margins.”

Meanwhile, Town ended their season with a 2-2 draw at already-relegated Dunkirk last Saturday.

Reflecting on the campaign, Blakemore said: “Overall I think it has been a decent season for us. Our biggest issue has been inconsistency.

"We have done okay in the league but maybe not as well as we’d have liked in the cups. But I don’t think we will need to make wholesale changes in the summer at all. We will always look to add one or two fresh faces but we know wehave the basis of a strong side.”