TAMWORTH No2 Neil Champelover says there was ‘no shame’ in losing at promotion-chasing Carlisle United on Saturday.
The Lambs went down 2-1 in Cumbria to a Carlisle side aiming to return to League Two under former Manchester United striker Mark Hughes.
Georgie Kelly struck twice to give the home side a hard-fought win at Brunton Park.
Carlise went ahead midway through the first half when Kelly was in the right place at the right time.
Chris Conn-Clarke saw his shot saved by Jas Singh, but Kelly was quickest to react and fired home.
Tamworth drew level after 38 minutes when Ronan Maher’s ball into the box was met by Jordan Ponticelli and his flicked header found the corner.
But Andy Peaks’ side wasted a chance to take the lead when they missed a 51st minute penalty.
Ronan Maher won the spot kick but Ben Milnes missed the opportunity.
Carlise went in search of the winner and Singh had to pull off 12 saves in the game.
But Kelly won it for Carlisle when he swept in at the back post to convert with 11 minutes left.
Champelover told the club’s YouTube channel: “It certainly was tough, but we also thought we could hurt them in transition.
“We missed the penalty and that swung the game in terms of momentum, it gave them a bit of a lift.
“But there’s no shame in coming here and not getting blown away.
“It shows how far we’ve come that we can go there and feeling like we could’ve won or taken a point.
“But we know we have to be better with the ball. We had a lot of belief here.
“We’re working so hard but we can’t keep that up for 90 minutes. But we were in the game for most of it.”
