Hinckley AFC midfielder Lee Butler said the club’s run in this season’s Buildbase FA Vase has been emotional after it ended with defeat to Buckland Athletic yesterday.
AFC’s best ever run in the competition saw them win six games on their way to the last 16 and they prevented higher level Buckland winning an eleventh straight game in normal time before Richard Groves’ extra time goal gave the Devon visitors a passage to the next round.
And Butler reflected on that run after yesterday’s defeat. He said: “(It’s been) emotional. When you first start out in the competition it’s just another game and to be fair, that’s all it is – just another game.
“But the closer we’ve got, the more we’ve believed that we could get there and there’s been a few tears shed in there because everyone’s gutted.
“After the week the club’s had we just wanted to try and make you (the supporters) proud of us and thankfully we did that.”
After overnight rain the St John’s Park pitch was heavy and cut up as it went on, which Butler said affected the way his side played.
“We knew as soon as we got here that the pitch was going to turn up and affect the way we played, but early on we wanted to get the ball down and play.
“I think you saw that early on we did that and we 2-0 up but the pitch did take its toll on us. You saw the lads’ legs had gone in extra time and it’s a tough one to take. I’m speechless really.”
But with attention now turning back to the league and League Cup, the former Chasetown man wants to keep pressing those sides above them in the hope they slip up.
“We said at the start of the season that we wanted to try and fight and win the league title, and we’re going to keep going and keep digging in. We’ll be there come the end of the season.”
And with the club hit hard this week by the passing of Simon Blyth, Butler said the players tried their utmost to do him proud despite the result.
“I came here at the back end of last season and straight away he was one person who made me feel welcome.
“His loss has hit everyone hard and it has affected us as a squad. We really wanted to try and get the win for him today, and we couldn’t quite get it but I’m sure he’ll be proud of the effort we put in.”
