CLITHEROE chairman Carl Garner admitted he was in shock after manager Chris Stammers handed in his resignation in the aftermath of the Blues' 10-1 FA Trophy defeat at Kettering.

Stammers, who only took over at the start of the season, quit after seeing his side hammered by the Conference North side.

And Garner, who tried to dissuade Stammers yesterday morning, said he was disappointed to see his manager go.

He said: "It came right out of the blue. We asked him to sleep on it but we had a long chat with him yesterday morning and he hadn't changed his mind.

"It's always wrong to make decisions when emotions are running high but he'd made up his mind and we did what we could.

"But at the end of the day, we have to look after the best interests of the football club.

"We were only talking about trying to get a new striker in on Friday evening so whether this is something that has been brewing I don't know, but it wasn't something we were aware of.

"Chris's assistant, Ashley Berry, will take charge of tomorrow night's UniBond Cup game at Witton, and then we'll sit down and talk about the future.

"I'd just like to place on record our appreciation of what Chris has done for us and he's welcome back at Shawbridge anytime."

The result at Rockingham Road aside, Garner said he was very proud of the Blues players.

He added: "Kettering were unbelievable. Their players were just so quick and strong and they were a joy to watch.

"Our boys just couldn't get near them but they never gave up and that's great credit to them."

Rene Howe helped himself to five goals with Jean-Paul Marna adding a brace. The other goals came from Craig Westcarr, Andre Boucaud and Andy Hall.

Clitheroe's sole moment of glory came in the 88th minute through James Dean.

Garner said: "We've made about £4,000 in prize money and now we can go back to our own level of football with our heads held high.

"Nobody likes to be on the wrong end of a hiding but we were out-classed by a better side and there's no disgrace in that.

"But it was still a special day. Kettering were first class hosts, our fans were fantastic and the players did themselves proud.

"It was just Chris's decision that took the edge off things."

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