Nathan Hotte and Matt Kosylo say the Shaymen are ready to bounce back from their FA Cup exit at the hands of Eastleigh with a positive result against Telford on Saturday.
Billy Heath’s men were beaten by two goals late in the first half on Tuesday night, in the Second Round Replay at the MBi Shay. Scott Wilson’s opener from close range was doubled by Mikael Mandron’s penalty, a controversial decision by the referee in which Josh MacDonald looked to play the ball in the Halifax area.
Hotte said: “The referee must have been the only man in the ground who thought it was a penalty. Josh has stretched his leg round and stopped the ball, but it’s one of those things.”
Kosylo was also astounded by the decision: “It’s never a penalty – he got the ball. He got the man too, but it’s a contact sport. In the second half, we were denied a penalty as well, Josh has hit one and their lad’s put his arm out. I was stood right behind it, it looked to be heading for the top corner.”
Hotte partnered Scott Garner at centre-half, and saw his defensive partner sent off late on for an incident involving the Spitfires’ Jai Reason.
“Their player looked to have body-checked him [Garner].
“Scott’s got up and reacted, and their lad jumped himself to the floor a little bit. It seemed a bit harsh.
Kosylo notes how the team have still made history and look ahead with a positive mind-set to the weekend’s league action.
“We’ve made history for the club reaching the second round for the first time since being reformed in 2008.
“We have to move on and think positively now, we need to focus on the playoffs and promotion, because we’re capable of doing just that.
“It will be a tough game, but we can get back on track, we’ve had some good results and shown character to come back when things aren’t going our way – like the first game at Eastleigh.
“Hopefully we can get a result Saturday.”
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