Lavery insists Poppies progress has been made despite play-off final disappointment
Kettering Town boss Richard Lavery admits Monday's play-off final defeat to AFC Telford United feels 'like a dagger in the heart' - but insists the season still has to be viewed as one of genuine progress.
The Poppies will still be playing Strep 3 football next season after they were beaten 4-2 by the Bucks at Latimer Park.
It was a nightmare end to the season for Kettering, who had finished the regular campaign second in the table behind champions Bedford Town, but Lavery feels some perspective is also needed.
The former Quorn boss took the reins last February with the Poppies in serious danger of relegation to Step 4, and did an excellent job in steering the club to safety.
He then rebuilt the squad last summer, and this season saw the Poppies lead the way in the Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central for much of the campaign.
They also beat county rivals and Sky Bet League One side Northampton Town at Sixfields on the way to reaching the second round proper of the FA Cup, where they lost to another EFL side in Doncaster Rovers in extra-time.
But the team started to struggle in the new year, and fell away in the second half of the season to finish runners-up and now they have lost in the play-off final.
Expectations had been raised by the team's form in the first half of the season and it is tough to take for everybody involved with the Poppies, but Lavery is adamant what has been achieved cannot be ignored.
"I am not going to dissect the whole season in an interview now," said the Kettering boss. "We have got to a play-off final, we have fallen short, and some people will say that is not a good season.
"But let's be honest, and I didn't want to stand here saying this, from where the club was when I took over last year to get into the play-off final and the second round of the FA Cup is a massive achievement.
"But it feels like a dagger in the heart to be standing here.
"I had a lot of noise behind the scenes all season, even from the fans there has been a lot of noise with people saying I am not doing a good job and things like that, but I have taken the club to a play-off final.
"We have fallen short in the final and I will take responsibility for that, but as a club we would have taken that all day at the end of last season."
Quotes courtesy of Peter Short