Hitchin exited the FA Trophy with a poor performance at step 4 Takeley. They looked a shadow of the side who played so well at Bury and rarely troubled the Takeley defence. The build up play was slow and ponderous and the quality of the passing was below par. The large travelling support left really disappointed at a wasted opportunity to gain confidence ahead of two very important league games.

Callum Kane was unavailable so Jamie Breen came in while Taylor Rhiney was cup tied so Sran Duodu played up front. The early stages of the game were even with few chances created. Callum Nicolson produced a couple of dangerous corners but it was a Takeley long throw that led to the first goal. George Pullen got on the end of a good delivery to head home. Hitchin came close to an equaliser when Duodu smashed a shot from 25 yards that came back off the crossbar

The first half ended with Toby Syme having to be replaced by Loyd Asamoah Junior. It felt as though Hitchin would need to play with more urgency in the second half but this did not happen. Kavan Cotter shot into the side netting after 47 minutes but while they had a lot of possession Hitchin failed to test the goalkeeper. Cole Butler and Diogo Freitas-Gouveia replaced Breen and Luke Stokoe after 58 minutes before Blue Joy had to be helped off after suffering what looked a painful injury.

Takeley doubled their lead after 67 minutes when George Sykes produced a clever lob over Tyler McGregor. While Hitchin huffed and puffed they did not like getting back into the game and Takeley comfortably saw out the remainder of the game.

Hitchin have to move on quickly from this tame performance which was in total contrast to the Bury game. On Tuesday they face Leighton Town in a crucial league game before going to Leamington on Saturday who are also struggling. Manager Michael Jones was frustrated and angry with this display and he will demand a positive response on Tuesday.