South Shields were knocked out of the FA Cup after a first round defeat to League Two club Shrewsbury Town.

Midfielder Will Jenkins has urged South Shields to use their FA Cup disappointment as motivation to secure success in the National League North this season.

The Mariners had high hopes of causing a major upset when they hosts League Two strugglers Shrewsbury Town at the 1st Cloud Arena on Sunday lunchtime - but their visitors showed why they are an EFL club with a ruthless display to secure a spot in Monday’s first round draw.

Will Jenkins in action during South Shields FA Cup defeat against Shrewsbury Town (photo Kevin Wilson) | Kevin Wilson

placeholder image — Will Jenkins in action during South Shields FA Cup defeat against Shrewsbury Town (photo Kevin Wilson) | Kevin Wilson

A first half brace from Anthony Scully and a Thomas Sang strike put Michael Appleton’s men filmy in control when the half-time whistle was blown - and they avoided on upset despite Mariners midfielder Luke Woolston reducing the arrears with a deflected effort midway through the second half.

Academy graduate Jenkins could not hide his disappointment over the end of a fine FA Cup run - but stressed the focus must now go on the Mariners attempts to secure promotion into the National League and that starts with a positive result at AFC Fylde in midweek.

He told The Gazette: “It’s tough to take because we’ve had a great run in the competition and obviously that’s come to an end today. We have to take all of the positive from the run and kick on in the league. We have a big game on Wednesday so we have to take the positives and focus all of our energies on that now.

“Shrewsbury are where we want to be and we have seen what it takes to be at their level in the flesh now. We have to learn those lessons and take them into our league campaign because we want to get promoted and we want to really push on.”

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