BROMSGROVE Sporting midfielder Nathan Hayward admitted the “fairytale” was not meant to be after the Rouslers FA Cup run came to an end against Grimsby Town.
The National League side ran out 5-0 winners at the Victoria Ground thanks to a brace from Seb Revan and further goals from David Longe-King, Lenell John-Lewis and Will Bapaga.
Despite the result, Sporting can hold their heads up high having created a great ocassion for the town who turned up in their thousands to sell out the Victoria Ground.
The game marked the furthest the club had ever reached in the FA Cup – exiting at the fourth qualifying round stage – just one win away from the first round proper.
Hayward played the full 90 minutes on Saturday lunchtime and admitted that Grimsby’s class shone through to deny Sporting a fairytale result.
Hayward said: “At the end of the day they’re a full-time side and they’re top of the National League for a reason.
“It’s a great experience for the lads, we all wanted a fairytale – it just wasn’t meant to be.”
The game was covered live by the BBC cameras and Hayward was thrilled to be involved in such a big occasion.
He added: “It’s fantastic to play in a game like this, it was a big ocassion, we should be proud that we got this far.
“We didn’t have anything to lose and as much as we wanted the fairytale to happen you’ve got to enjoy the ocassion for what it is.
“We’ve enjoyed ourselves, it was great to see everybody in here and have the support.”
Bromsgrove return to league action against Rushall Olympic on Tuesday, October 19 with kick-off at 7:45pm at Dales Lane.
