Lincoln City boss Danny Cowley declares himself proud of Red Imps heroic FA Cup run despite 5-0 loss at the hands of Arsenal
THEO WALCOTT finally broke Lincoln’s hearts after the non-league heroes held out for 46 minutes at the Emirates.
The National League leaders put on a brave show against Arsenal — before Arsene Wenger said again he did not know if he would be managing them next season.
Lincoln’s players applaud their fans at the EmiratesGetty Images
The Imps even almost took the lead, with Petr Cech having to pull off a fantastic save to deny Nathan Arnold.
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After seeing the fairytale end, boss Danny Cowley said: “It was really tough but we need to be proud of what we’ve done. We’re the first non-league team in 103 years to get to the last eight of the FA Cup.
“We’ll never be happy when we lose but now is the time to reflect on what we’ve done because it’s been a brilliant journey.
9,000 Red Imps supporters made the trip to LondonGetty ImagesAnd they nearly saw their team take the lead through Nathan Arnold (right)Getty ImagesBoss Danny Cowley believes his team must learn from their experience of facing world class oppositionGetty ImagesCaptain Luke Waterfall says the team can still be proud despite their 5-0 lossNews Group Newspapers Ltd
“The key now is to learn from this.
“We were playing against world-class players today and we must learn from this experience and come away better footballers and people as a result.
“We’ve seen world-class players first hand and if you can’t get better when you’re playing against players of that quality then you never will.”
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As soon as Walcott scored right at the end of the first half it was one-way traffic.
And Olivier Giroud’s 53rd-minute second, after a slick passing move, effectively ended any hopes of an upset.
A Luke Waterfall own-goal, an Alexis Sanchez rocket and Aaron Ramsey’s tap-in gave Arsenal a comfortable passage into the semi-finals.
Defender Waterfall added: “It’s no disgrace. The lads did themselves justice.
“It’s been unbelievable to finish it here in front of 60,000 people.”
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