Joe Rye gave his thoughts on the FA Cup defeat at Brunton Park at the weekend as Tamworth fell to a 2-1 defeat in the Fourth Qualifying Round.

Regan Linney netted twice for the Cumbrians before half time, and despite Riccardo Calder’s goal early on in the second half, the Lambs exited the competition.

Rye said: “Very disappointed. The first 25-30 minutes killed us to be honest. We started the game really slow. We went 1-0 down, conceding in the first five minutes. It’s not ideal and not what you want to do. We rode our luck for 15 minutes, defended well, and then the second goal was a killer right before half time. It’s not what you want, and I thought the second half we started really well. We got our goal and had a few more chances but ultimately it wasn’t enough on the day.

“You come to places like [Carlisle] and concede two goals before half time, it’s a mountain to climb. I thought we did well in the first 15-20 minutes of the second half, but just not enough.”

Reflecting on what went wrong, Rye said: “Cards [Riccardo Calder] got his goal but I think we just needed to be a bit braver on the day rather than just booting it long. Like you saw when we started playing a bit, we actually got a bit of joy. We needed to play wide and get crosses in the box.”