SHOLING have dented pride and yet more injuries to contend with ahead of tomorrow’s trip to second-placed Taunton Town in the Southern One South & West.

By their own high standards it’s been a disappointing league campaign for the Boatmen who have spent an eternity treading water in 17th spot.

Their brightest hope of silverware rested with the Russell Cotes Cup, but that ended on Wednesday when they suffered a 2-1 quarter-final defeat at home to Sydenhams League underdogs Horndean.

After a goalless first half, the Deans struck through Nathan Paxton and Harry Potter before Barry Mason replied late from the spot.

“Take nothing away from Horndean, they deserved the win and good luck to them,” said Diaper.

“At least three of their players could walk straight into our side.

“Lewis Stockford, their No10, played extremely well as did Harry Potter, and they were physical too, which you don’t normally get in the Wessex League.

“We had chances to win but we kept missing them, which affected morale, and we left ourselves a bit exposed.

“To be fair to the players they did OK, but we dropped our heads a bit and for a 15-minute spell we thought we were beaten. That’s my main concern.

“We’re a side that’s been used to having everything our own way in the past, but this season’s all about character building and we’ve got to live with the fact that we’re going to be turned over sometimes.

“We’ve had our good times and now we’re suffering a bit, but that’s football “We need to regroup and fight back.”

Injuries are not helping the Boatmen’s cause. Four more players were in the wars on Wednesday, with young full-back Liam Golding (ankle), defender Pete Castle (quad muscle) and Jack Smith (knee) all failing to get through the 90 minutes, while Nick Watts ended the night with bloodied toes.

“We’ve had a terrible run of injuries and it’s just got worse,” said Diaper.

“I felt for our fans on Wednesday. They’ve been tremendous this season and the lads were desperate to put on a good performance for them. But that was three home defeats in a row for us and I can’t remember the last time that happened.

“There’s work to be done over the next three or four weeks to get new players on board early for next season.”