FAIRFORD Town manager Gareth Davies watched his side self-destruct in the FA Cup after crashing to a 5-1 defeat to CB Hounslow United, despite being a goal to the good.

Danny Hale had put Davies’ men in the lead in the 26th minute when he successfully converted a penalty after a defender handled the ball.

But it didn’t take long for the onslaught to take place, as the away side drew level just five minutes later before taking a 2-1 advantage into the break.

“We were rubbish,” said Davies.

“To be fair, they were a good outfit. They were very organised and had some players who had played at a decent level.

“From our point of view, I don’t think we ever really got going, so it is disappointing from our end - I don’t think we have clicked yet.

“At the end of the day, we got a walloping.”

The second half was then one-way traffic as the visitors scored three more, adding insult to injury in the process.

Despite the battering, the Fairford boss believes there were some positives to take from the game and believes his squad will look for redemption.

“When we get the ball down and play, we can be a handful. The key is to be able to do it for 90 minutes, not 20-minute spells,” he added.

“We went one-nil up, sat back and invited them onto us but when you stop doing things you normally do well, you’re going to find yourself in trouble and that’s what happened.

“The nucleus of the squad from last year is still there. The new players are on the right wavelength but we don’t do things naturally.

“This year we are hoping things are going to happen rather than making them happen.

“We are never going to win the FA Cup, but that and the FA Vase are there to make a couple of quid for the club.

“We’ll draw a line under this and say our season starts next week.

“The lads will be disappointed but they need to get their heads up. They’ll want to get the right result next time.”

Fairford are back in action next Saturday when they welcome North Leigh to Cider Lane.