Brennan questions players' desire after lacklustre cup defeat

Hemel manager Dean Brennan watches on. Picture (c) Terry Rickeard

Hemel Town manager Dean Brennan slammed his side for a lack of '˜hunger and desire' as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at St Albans in the Hertfordshire Charity Cup semi-finals on Tuesday night.

St Albans got the job done with a goal from Harry Anderson shortly before half-time, and in truth they rarely looked troubled by a lacklustre Hemel side.

“Their goal was shambolic and all I would say is that some of the players who came in didn’t show enough hunger and enough desire to get into the team on Saturday,” said Brennan. “It’s that simple.

“I’ll always pick the team on merit, and that wasn’t good enough tonight. We are used to not losing to St Albans, but full credit to them, they were the better team so good luck to them for the rest of the season.”

James Potton in action for Hemel against St Albans earlier this season. Picture (c) Terry Rickeard

Brennan did, however, urge the players and fans to stick together as they try to put an end to an eight-game winless run which stretches back as far as January 9.

“The performance wasn’t great but that’s where we are at the minute. We’ve just got to keep working hard and move on to the next game,” said the Hemel boss.

“We’re going through a bit of a sticky spell but we’ve got to make sure we all stick together and keep working hard.

“Look, tonight was the Charity Cup and I suppose we take things for granted because we’ve won a lot of things at this football club.

“But we were competitive and at the end of the day we dealt with a lot of their set-pieces and what they do well. They had much more experience on the field than us and it showed.”

Next up for Hemel is a National League South trip to Havant & Waterlooville on Saturday.

Brennan added: “We’ve got a lot of players out at the moment and we have got to get them back quickly.”