AFTER re-living the full 90 minutes of the FA Trophy Final against Stevenage Borough from Saturday, Harriers manager Mark Yates still has nothing but praise for his disappointed troops as they now look towards the 2007/08 season.

Sitting down to reflect on the whole occasion with harriers.co.uk for the first time today, Yates admitted he'd now taken in the full game and had been relieved of any fears that just didn't perform in the second half against Borough, after being 2-0 up at the break.

He rued the 'sloppy' three goals his side conceded, but admitted that it was not the case that the second-half was all-Stevenage.

"It was a fantastic day, the lads were magnificent and we should have won the game - we're disappointed with the goals we conceded because we don't concede sloppy goals like that on too regular a basis," he said.

"After the game I thought maybe Stevenage had dominated in that second half or maybe we hadn't come out and performed after half-time but having seen the DVD that certainly isn't the case.

"We had just as much play in and around their box and just as many chances in that second half but just didn't take them - We weren't as quite as dominant and things were probably a little more shared.

"We just conceded three disappointing goals and somehow from a winning position we ended up getting beat."

Yates continued:

"We set the team out to be organised and very positive and to play with cool heads and everyone was fantastic, we just unfortunately didn't win the game and we're obviously disappointed.

"But as they say, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger and we'll learn from this and be better for next season.

"Progress is being made and hopefully all of the players can take on positives for next season.

"It was a great experience on Saturday and I know we all want to go back and put it right."