HUNTINGDON Town manager Ricky Marheineke said he got ‘caught up in the hype’ of St Neots Town’s 5-0 win over Cambridge City as he planned for Saturday’s FA Cup game at the City Ground where his side were beaten 7-0.

In fact, the Huntingdon manager told The Hunts Post the scoreline could have been much worse after two goals in 15 completely destroyed his game plan.

“We made two mistakes and the game was over,” said Marheineke. “Then it turned into a long afternoon. Cambridge were fantastic and their movement was excellent. They were stronger and fitter and 15-0 would have been a fair result.”

Out of the FA Vase and now the FA Cup, Huntingdon will now ‘concentrate on the league’ – and former Eynesbury goalkeeper Carl Mackney has joined the club while 19-year-old ex-Peterborough striker Ben Seymour-Shove has also signed up ahead of Wednesday’s UCL Premier game against Yaxley.

“I’M not disappointed but I am frustrated,” said Marheineke.

Two early defensive mistakes allowed the home side to take control of the game with two goals in the first 15 minutes.

Cambridge’s experienced striker Craig Hammond rounded Huntingdon’s goalkeeper Ben Gathercole for the Lilywhites’ first goal on three minutes – and then did exactly the same thing 12 minutes later.

“After that we wouldn’t have won however well we played,” said Marheineke, who welcomed Latvian striker Niks Savalneiks back from his honeymoon for the tie.

Adie Cambridge drilled home City’s third before Hammond completed his hat-trick by strolling through the Huntingdon defence and finishing easily. Hammond then scored his fourth and Cambridge’s fifth in the 51st minute before Joey Abbs got number six and late substitute Ben Pepper swept home the seventh.

“Our goalkeeper made five or six brilliant saves and they hit the wood work. They even had two goals disallowed for offside which I didn’t think looked offside,” said the Huntingdon manager. “I got caught up in the hype after they were beaten 5-0 by St Neots – they are a good side in that league and I told my players they should learn from their mistakes and be grateful for the experience.

“We had a great win against St Ives in the last round and we all enjoyed that and the club has made a little money out of the Cup run.”

Huntingdon: Ben Gathercole, Ollie Medwynter, Ashley Yeomans (Louie Medwynter), Jamie Blackwell, Victor Torres, Ricky Dear, Dave Townsend, Jack Warwick (Stuart Eason), Charlie Bowen, Dan Drane (Ben Sawyer), Niks Savalneiks.