Dafydd Williams praised his Gloucester City side’s mentality as they booked their spot in the Isuzu FA Trophy third round following a 3-4 win on penalties against Slough Town.
Marcus Day opened the scoring for the visitors towards the end of the first-half but Ansu Janneh levelled the game with 20 minutes to go, before the Tigers held firm and secured a win in a penalty shootout.
How the penalties unfolded 💪⚽️#GCAFC pic.twitter.com/u5vVAWPh5x
— Gloucester City AFC (@GCAFCofficial) November 15, 2025
Slough Town currently ply their trade in the National League South, one division higher than Gloucester, but the Tigers prepared well and educated themselves with the challenges that the hosts would pose.
“We did our homework on Slough and knew what sort of threats and strengths that they carried,” Williams said.
“We saw a little bit of that today and it did cause problems, but equally, we know what we’re capable of, from both a technical and psychological point of view.
“We’d have liked to have caused more problems so that is something to look at, but ultimately in this competition it’s about getting into the next round, and that’s what we’ve done.”
However, despite a cup upset, the former Newport County assistant manager continued to admit that he was not completely satisfied with the overall performance.
He said: “There’s mixed emotions, I just said to the lads now that in cup competitions, sometimes you have to win ugly and I think that’s what we’ve done today,” Williams said.
“There’s lots of positives from the first-half, from both a technical and a tactical point of view.
“But in the second-half, we didn’t really get to grips with the game but credit to Slough, I thought they were good going forward and we did struggle to stop them at times.”
The draw for the next round of the FA Trophy takes place at 3PM on Monday 17th, but the focus now shifts back to league action with Basingstoke Town up next for the Gloucestershire side on Tuesday night.
Williams believes that the supporters will play a key part in the fixture in Hampshire.
He said: “We need them every game, they are huge for us and it’s time like these that we want the fans to really enjoy themselves.
“As staff, our attentions move quite quickly to Basingstoke and it’ll be a really tough game.
“So if we can get as many as we can to Basingstoke on Tuesday it’ll be fantastic as they make a real difference.”
Unbelievable support today City fans 💙#GCAFC pic.twitter.com/Hw7ux1tGD7
— Gloucester City AFC (@GCAFCofficial) November 15, 2025
