Gainsborough Trinity's Terry Hawkridge to put Wembley disappointment behind him

Terry Hawkridge intends to put his Wembley disappointment behind him and focus on more attention-grabbing performances for Gainsborough Trinity.

The former Carlton winger has been in superb form this season with a number of match-winning displays as the Blues have put themselves in play-off contention and reached the semi-finals of the FA Trophy, writes Dave Marshall.

The stage was set as Hawkridge, who was celebrating his 23rd birthday on Saturday, scored the equaliser for his side against Wrexham.

Unfortunately, his birthday wish, to earn a place in a Wembley final, didn't quite pay off as the Dragons did enough to go through to the final at the national stadium.

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It wasn't the fairytale ending that Hawkridge was hoping for but now he accepts the team has to move on.

"We must not let this affect our form in the league now," said Hawkridge.

"We have got ourselves in the play-off places and we have proved that we can compete against teams in the Blue Square Bet Premier.

"So now we have to put the disappointment behind us and go for promotion."

Hawkridge hit the goal which lifted the Northolme crowd on Saturday and caused Wrexham to wobble when he fired home a 26th-minute equaliser.

And when skipper Michael Leary added a second with ten minutes remaining it looked like only one team was Wembley bound.

"It was end to end stuff, we just came out and went on all out attack," added Hawkridge.

"We are probably one of the best at set-pieces and we thought it was going to come at the end there.

"We have Stampy, Luke and Youngy in there, but that is probably why they (Wrexham) are at the top of their league, because they are able to hold on when they have the lead.

"The manager said before the game that no matter what happens we have to keep going.

"There are goals in this team. We can always score. They got the first one and our heads went down for a couple of minutes.

"But then I got the ball and just turned. I took a touch and the defender seemed to back off a bit and I thought I could put it in.

"It was a good finish and we won the game, but we lost the tie and we are all a bit gutted."

Hawkridge's performances this season have earned admiring glances from higher up the ladder, with Football League teams said to be keeping an eye on the talented midfielder.

"I just leave the off-the-field stuff alone and concentrate on my game for Gainsborough," he added.

"It is good that other clubs are coming to watch me, but I am just working hard for Gainsborough."