POOR weather was to blame for Hayes & Yeading’s FA Trophy first round exit, according to boss Nas Bashir.
United threw away a two-goal lead in injury time to crash out against Corby in the first round of the competition on Saturday.
Bashir was frustrated to see his team concede in stoppage time and says he will be hammering into his players the importance of concentrating until the final whistle.
He said: “I thought we were good in the first half and could have had the game wrapped up then. We came in at half time cruising at 2-0 but the wind and conditions got worse in the second half and it was in their favour with the way they played.
“I told them to come out and be solid at the start of the second half but we allowed them a cheap goal and then they’re back in the game and you’re under pressure.
“We’re disappointed to have come away with nothing.
“We’ve got a lot of young players in there and we’ve got to try and manage them and get them to understand that the game is 93 minutes long.
“We’ve gone missing at the end of games in the past. We need to look at the DVD and the players have got to battle right to the end.”
The pitch just about survived a 12.30pm inspection as rain and wind swirled around the aptly named Steel Park.
It was all H&Y in the first 45 minutes as they weathered the conditions better and deservedly went ahead when Mark Bentley headed home after 31 minutes.
Life was sweet right at the end of the half when overworked keeper Paul Walker did well to stop a strike from Daniel Wishart, but could do nothing to deny Luke Williams.
Carl Piergianni pulled one back on 55 minutes and Corby had a goal ruled out for offside before they finally levelled eight minutes from time through Jason Crowe.
Then, with the referee poised to blow for full time, two subs sank United.
Leon McKenzie met a great delivery from Marc Magna for the winner and former QPR player, and now Corby caretaker manager, Chris Plummer, could hardly believe his luck.
