Witham Town have sacked manager George Young - after a 4-0 win over St Neots in the FA Cup.

The club committee made the decision at a meeting yesterday evening after a string of poor results in Ryman League division two so far this season.

Acting chairman Ron Macey said Saturday's result had been taken into account by the committee in making the decision - and they had not yet found a replacement.

He said: "This was a difficult decision and for many reasons I'm sorry it had to be made.

"George has worked extremely hard during the past two-and-a-half years and the committee readily acknowledges this - we would like to record our thanks for all his efforts.

"We wish him the best of fortune in his future endeavours.

"However, performances overall this year have been well below expectations and it was felt now was the right time to bring in a new manager to deliver some much needed consistency in performance and crucially to get us moving up the league."

The sacking is set to result in a mass exodus of players from the club including goalkeeper Tony Williams, defenders Justin Pearce, Kevin Jopson and Dean Braybrook, midfielder Paul Shirt and striker Paul Battram.

It is thought coach Paul Hilton has already ruled himself out of taking over the Witham hotseat.

Young said: "I feel it had nothing to do with my management - it would only have been a couple of weeks before we were flying with all the squad fit again. We started the turn-around on Saturday.

"I feel I've done nothing wrong and have the respect of all the players and people who work for me. I will see what's open and see if I can get myself into another club."

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