Unlucky for Chukki
By Matt Pitman

Tuesday 15th November 2005

CHUKKI Eribenne was inches away from becoming Weymouth's FA Cup hero last night.

The striker's powerful first half drive was pushed on to a post by Nottingham Forest keeper Paul Gerrard, before the visitors went on to secure a 2-0 first round replay win in front of the Sky Sports cameras.

Eribenne said had his effort gone in the Terras could have caused a major upset at the Wessex Stadium.

He told Echosport: "They say there is a thin line between success and failure and that was the case tonight.

"When I fired the shot in I thought it was a goal all the way and really thought I would be celebrating with everyone watching on the television.

"But then the keeper Paul Gerrard got his fingertips on it and the ball bounced out off the post which I was gutted about.

"If that had gone in we would have been well set just before half-time and I'm sure we could have gone on to win.

"We had good spells of pressure throughout the game but in the end a couple of lapses cost us dear.

"It's disappointing because we gave everything over the two games but just fell a bit short.

"But looking back everyone connected with the club can be very proud of the way we handled ourselves.

"We acquitted ourselves well against a side from Coca Cola League One and even though there is three divisions difference between ourselves and Forest I don't think that showed.

"There was not a big gulf in class as you would expect there to be and seeing that gives us something to aim at.

"I don't think Forest are too far from where we want to be in terms of ability and if there's one thing we can take from these games, it's that we know we've come a long way."

Eribenne said playing in front of a 6,500 capacity crowd at Radipole Lane was a career highlight.

"The atmosphere was sensational and the fans both tonight and at the City Ground were simply phenomenal," he said.

"It's diffIcult to explain just how inspiring it is to see so many people in the ground cheering you on.

"This has been one of those days that will stick with me for a . long time.

"Hopefully we will get more capacity crowds in the years to come."

Skipper Matt Bound said Weymouth's exit from the prestigious competition was not the way the players would have liked.

"We can be proud of our efforts," he said, "but at the same time there's a big feeling of disappointment with the defeat because it was pretty self-inflicted.

"We didn't defend as we should on the two goals and I hold my hands up for my part in that fact

"For long periods we looked quite comfortable defensively, then suddenly we lose it for a few seconds and find ourselves two goals down."

Bound's central defensive partner Roy O'Brien added: "We gave them two goals and you can't afford to do that.

"Facing Forest has been a great experience but it's just a shame it had to end this way.