Rowe hails Gornal effort in Vase defeat (From Halesowen News)

Rowe hails Gornal effort in Vase defeat

11:20pm Saturday 2nd March 2013 in Sport

PROUD Gornal Athletic boss Ian Rowe had nothing but praise for his player’s after they FA Vase exit at Spennymoor Town.

The Peacocks dreams of reaching Wembley were ended in County Durham as they were beaten 3-1 by the competition favourites.

Speaking after the game, Rowe admitted the defeat had hit his players hard.

He said: “I’ve just come out of the dressing room and some of them are in tears. A lot of them are really upset.

“From my point of view I can’t give them anything but praise. They have given me and the club everything.

“We have come here to play a side with big budget and in the end that little bit of extra quality and mental fitness has told in the end.

“3-1? You have to say it was a fair scoreline in the end.”

Gornal made a bright start to the game but gradually the hosts took control and gained the lead when Gavin Cogdon fired home from the penalty spot after he had been felled by Rob Blair.

A Lewis Dodds own goal stunned Spennymoor and levelled things up on the stroke of half-time yet while Gornal competed for the opening 15 minutes of the second half, the hosts again got on top and dominated the final half hour, with goals from Mark Davison and a second from Cogdon sealing the win.

Rowe added: “In the second half we competed for 15 to 20 minutes but as soon as they got the second goal I had to change things in terms of shape.

“We went to a 3-5-2 and they were too quick for us on the break. The last 20 minutes were quite hard.

“We don’t want to feel sorry for ourselves. We have a local derby against Tividale on Tuesday night and we want to be ready for that.”