LEE Hooper feels ‘gutted’ after Malvern Town suffered an agonising 1-0 defeat against Cleethorpes Town in FA Cup First Round Qualifying.
The Hillsiders spurned a number of chances while the visitors played with 10-men from the 54th minute and won the game deep into injury time at the HDAnywhere Community Stadium.
Malvern’s joint-boss Hooper felt his side did not have enough quality in the final third to extend their FA Cup journey but praised the level of performance despite the defeat.
Hooper said: “I’m gutted, we’ve done more than enough to win the game, we had a lot of chances.
“They’ve had a bit of a smash and grab, they’ve hit a 25-yarder into the top corner in injury time to win it.
“After all the chances and possession we had, the lads worked really hard, it’s a tough one to take.
“We’ve just got to pick everyone’s heads up and work on that bit of quality in the final third.
“We just didn’t have that little bit of quality to break them down when they went down to 10-men and they’ve gone up the other end and put one in the top corner.”
The home side created the game’s first chance as Josh Allen saw his effort well-saved by Cleethorpes goalkeeper Heath Richardson.
Malvern striker Jack Watts then flashed an effort wide before Allen’s shot went agonisingly past the post after he latched onto a stray backpass.
The chances continued to flow for the home side as Harry Clark drove forward and found himself one-on-one with Richardson only for the latter to make a crucial save.
Cleethorpes saw a penalty appeal waved away by the referee early in the second half before Ben Middleton saw red for a foul on Watts.
Malvern looked to make the man advantage count as Watts powered an effort towards goal from distance which went narrowly wide.
However, as Cleethorpes frustrated Malvern and with the tie heading to a replay, Will Annan unleashed a stunning strike into the top corner from 25-yards out to leave the Hillsiders stunned.
Malvern are next in action against Bideford AFC in the FA Trophy on Saturday, September 7 with kick-off at 3pm at the Sports Ground.
