Aldershot Town manager Tommy Widdrington admitted he was embarrassed after his side crashed out of the FA Trophy with a 6-1 defeat at National League North outfit Bishop’s Stortford in the fourth round proper.

“I don’t use the words embarrassed very often because I don’t very often represent teams I’m embarrassed by but for periods of that game I was,” said Widdrington.

“Not in terms of the whole game. I didn’t see us stopping trying to improve the situation we’d put ourselves in but it was unacceptable the way individuals played.

“We’ve given them however many goals. I know we haven’t been watertight in terms of defence all season but we trade that off because we score goals.

“You saw 11 lads put their bodies and their head and everything they had between us and their goal and we didn’t do that well enough, simple as that.

“We’ve had the ball all the game, but every time we’ve passed the ball or they’ve won it back they’ve walked through the middle of our pitch like a knife through butter and exposed our goalkeeper.

“We had a chance early on where had that gone in things may well have been different but I take nothing away from Bishop’s Stortford.

“They thoroughly deserved to win the game and that’s nothing to do with football, that’s to do with application, attitude and determination.

“It hurts me to say there were 11 lads out there in blue who looked like they wanted it more than my lads in blue and white.

“We’ll have to learn quickly because if we play like that, or if we defend like that out of possession in our division, then 6-1 will be a great result for us.

“I’m never one to criticise individuals in public – I’ll praise them if they’ve done well.

“I genuinely think of the team that started and the subs that came on the pitch there’s only two who started and one of the subs who did what I would have expected them to do. That is not normal for us.

“We didn’t prepare any differently, we didn’t give them any less information about the opposition than we normally do.

“I’m really disappointed. I’m not one to apologise because you have to go with the rough and the smooth. We’re in it together.

“We win together and we lose together as a football club – as a group of staff and players and as a fan base.

“I’ve got to say the fans were excellent. They could’ve easily given us a lot more grief than one or two did.”

Aldershot had the first chance of the game as Jack Barham found himself in behind the Bishop’s Stortford defence after just five minutes, but his attempted dink over Jack Giddens was saved.

The Shots found themselves behind after just six minutes when Bishop’s Stortford broke forward and Kane Crichlow slotted the ball under Jordi van Stappershoef.

The Shots dominated possession but found themselves 2-0 down in the 12th minute. A dangerous cross in from the left was turned in by Darren Foxley from a few yards out.

Seven minutes later Bishop’s Stortford added a third. Critchlow scored his second with a well-placed shot from just inside the box that hit the post and went in.

The Blues midfielder then completed his hat-trick and added a fourth for the home side with a powerful effort from outside the area.

The Shots pulled a goal back when Lorent Tolaj slotted home after a penalty area scramble to give some glimmer of hope of a comeback in the 74th minute.

Those hopes were dashed within minutes as Critchlow scored his fourth and Bishop’s Stortford’s fifth on 76 minutes from another counter attack.

Tolaj was close to a second shortly afterwards with a header that hit the bar.

As the game drew to a close it got even worse for Aldershot as Critchlow scored his fifth from another counter-attack to see the home side score six.

Samuel Carter