Sittingbourne manager Ryan Maxwell says the buck stops with him after FA Trophy defeat by Swale rivals Sheppey United

Manager Ryan Maxwell took responsibility after Sittingbourne’s FA Trophy exit at Sheppey.

The Brickies lost 2-1 away to their Swale rivals in the Second Qualifying Round on Saturday.

They conceded the opener at the end of the first half while defender Donvieve Jones was receiving treatment for a head injury after colliding with a barrier.

Brickies boss Maxwell wishes he’d made a substitution, rather than leaving his side to play a man down while they considered whether Jones could continue.

“I have to take responsibility,” said Maxwell.

“We conceded with 10 men while Donny was off the pitch and I probably should have made the substitution earlier.

“I always look at myself first and I should have made the change because it was a time in the game when Sheppey were on top.

“The fact Donny was getting treatment gave us the impression he was going to come back on.

“It wasn’t, ‘I’m no good, take me off’, so we waited a bit longer when we shouldn’t have done.

“We’re a young group and that was exposed in that moment when we were down to 10 men but I take responsibility for that happening.”

Jones was eventually substituted as a precaution, replaced by Casey Nolan-Samuels after Jacob Lambert’s opener.

It was a concerning time given the nature of the incident, adding to the lack of certainty over what to do.

“He’s sprinting down to the byline and he’s hit his head into the barrier,” said Maxwell.

“There’s been a couple of instances where these things have been life-altering, so it wasn’t taken lightly, and that’s why we deliberated over it a bit longer than we should have done but thankfully he’s OK.

“He had a little bit of glue on a gash but he’ll be fine.

“There was no concussion, it was purely a superficial injury, but you still