FA Trophy defeat shows Chichester City there’s hard work ahead

That’s the view of City coach Darin Killpartrick as he reflects on their exit from a second national competition this season at the first hurdle – to the same opponents.

Isthmian south central side Southall won 1-0 at home to Chi in the FA Cup last month – and it was 2-1 between the same sides and at the same ground on Saturday to leave City out of the Trophy.

In between the two knockout losses, City have made a good start to their Isthmian south east division programme.

And that’s what takes their focus again this weekend as they welcome Hythe Town to their temporary home of Bognor’s Nyewood Lane for a clash between the teams in third and fourth place.

Killpartrick admitted the latest loss at Southall was a disappointment.

"We created enough chances win the game but were not clinical enough and were caught out twice in transitions,” he told the Observer.

"We certainly need to be more clinical in front of goal and it’s clear there are aspects of our defending we need to work on in training.

"However, we can see clear progress in terms of how we started pre-season to where we are now. The players are working hard to put into practice what we want from them.

"We’ve intensfied things in training and have been impressed with the players’ response. But there is always room for improvement.”

With the FA Cup and Trophy behind them City can focus on the league – with boss Miles Rutherford having already stated he will be disappointed if they do not make the play-offs this season, having fallen short of a serious bid for the knockouts last term.

Hythe, fresh from an FA Trophy win at Burgess Hill, will provide a stiff test at Nyewood Lane on Saturday.

Killpartrick said: “I know their manager, Steve Watt, very well and we know what to expect from them.

"It ought to be a very good game of football.”

Chi had a good start to their half-season use of Nyewood Lane by beating Lancing 3-0. Killpartrick said: “It’s a lovely place to play – we hope plenty of local fans can support us.”