GARETH Davies admitted slack defending was his Fairford side’s undoing as they crashed out of the FA Cup following a 3-1 home defeat to Knaphill.

On a day where the FA Cup trophy was the star attraction at Cinder Lane, three first-half goals from the visitors were enough to kill off Fairford as they exited the competition at the extra preliminary round stage.

Fairford did grab one back after the break, and also missed a penalty, leaving Davies frustrated on what was a special day for the club.

“It was a really good day for the club but, for us on the pitch, 45 minutes of poor defending has really cost us,” he said.

“After the break we were a lot better and played some good stuff, we defended better and won the second half 1-0, but we said at half-time we’ve left ourselves with a real mountain to climb due to poor sloppiness which cost us.

“It was a big day for the club and to get a result like that was really disappointing. We missed a penalty as well so if that could have gone in things could have been different but it wasn’t our day.

Despite the result, Davies and his players were able to enjoy the experience of having the FA Cup at the ground.

“The club put on a really good day and all the players and family got there early and could have their pictures taken with the trophy, which was nice,” he said.

“The management had to have one too and all the people who turned up to watch, and to be fair to the FA the trophy was out on the pitch when the teams came out and both teams were able to have their pictures taken with it then.

“All in all it was a nice touch and it was good to see, although the only disappointing thing is that the result didn’t go for us.”