Archie will bounce back from setback, insists Walker

Stewart, one of the most popular players at the Showgrounds, missed the decisive kick as United lost 4-3 on penalties to Portadown in Saturday's match, but Walker has no qualms about the defender's credentials.

“Archie has enough character about him to be lifted. He is a good lad and he will be well comforted at home with his dad who has been round a few corners, football-wise, and we certainly don't think any less of Archie.

“Archie's wasn't a great strike but he was big enough to step forward and take the fifth penalty. He's not a villain – he's a hero in my eyes.

“I'll confess that we had difficulty getting five penalty takers. We practised penalties on Thursday night and practised them on Saturday.

“The skipper (Gary Haveron) would have taken one if he had still been on; Gavin Taggart would probably have taken one; Aidy Watson was to take one but he felt his hamstrings were too bad.

Everyone who took penalties said they wanted to take them but there was no major stampede.

“Archie was one of the players who came forward and said he would take a penalty – it was only a matter of where. I wanted Andy and Kevin in the first three but we didn't have enough bodies out there – Dwayne would probably have been next to take a penalty.

“It's about confidence I suppose. The only other experienced player was Albert but the last penalty he took for us didn't exactly ripple the net.

“We're really disappointed that we're not in the final. Objectively, genuinely, on the play in the game, I thought we were the better team and I thought we really didn't get what we deserved.

“We made a couple of good chances (in extra time) and the keeper made a great save.

“I thought we were in control of the game in the first half but we made a mistake and let them in.

Dwayne should have punched but tried to catch and didn't do that.

“Dwayne thought it was a free kick. My initial reaction was that I thought an arm went up but I couldn't see so I wouldn't like to say the ref got that wrong.

I'm very proud of our players. I thought they played really well in the 90 minutes and at the end of the first period of extra time, we had two brilliant chances and even Kevin at the very end, I thought he was going to go through but the ball wouldn't sit for him.

“Had we won the game in 90 minutes or extra time, I think that would have been fair enough. I know we were underdogs but I genuinely felt that we played better football in patches.

“I asked the boys not to come off the pitch with any regrets and I was pleased with them. On another day we might have got the break. Football is about fine margins.

I would have loved it for our fans – they were special and got behind the team from start to finish – and I'm sorry we just couldn't deliver for them.”

Walker now has to lift his players for the remaining four games of the season – starting with a home game against relegation-threatened Institute this Saturday (3pm) – ahead of what the manager predicts will be a busy summer.

“I think there will have to be changes – it would be folly to suggest otherwise. But there's enough to build on and if we get our acquisitions in and they are good, then we're hoping it's a step forward.

We're just in the ether of the disappointment – it's still raw but we have to re-group and put that disappointment behind us,” added Walker.

The disappointment was shared by club captain Gary Haveron who said: “It was a very cruel end.

It's a horrible way to go out of the cup, especially in a game where we didn't deserve to lose and there were a lot of dejected boys in that dressing room.

“I don't really know how much more we could have done to get to the final.

“The boys went out and gave everything they had and I feel we didn't get what we deserved. We have no regrets about the performance but the result is just gutting.

“There were some boys who wanted to take penalties and others who shied away from it. It takes a lot of nerve to take one and Archie is young enough and good enough to bounce back and he will get stronger.

“It's unbelievably hard at the minute but we have to re-group, we have to motivate ourselves for our last four games and finish as high up the table as possible,” added Haveron.