MALVERN Town exited the FA Trophy at the third round qualifying stage following a 3-1 defeat at AFC Rushden and Diamonds.
The Hillsiders surrendered an early lead at Hayden Road after Piers Walton’s goal put the visitors ahead.
However, David Adegbola drew the home side level before Tejan Thomas completed the turnaround early in the second half.
Rushden had Bruno Andrade sent off following an off-the-ball incident only for Ty Ward to complete the scoring via the aid of a deflection late on.
Despite the defeat, Malvern’s run to the third round qualifying stage of the competition marks the club’s best performance in the FA Trophy in their history.
Both teams play at Step Four on non-league with Rushden plying their trade in the Northern Premier League Midlands division.
Malvern broke the deadlock on 19 minutes when Walton latched onto Ryan Brunt’s flick and coolly finished past Lewis Elsom when one-on-one.
However, Rushden equalised on 39 minutes as Adegbola controlled a deflected shot and looped an effort into the far corner from the right-hand side of the penalty area.
The home side turned the game on its head five minutes after half time when Thomas volleyed in Andrade’s free-kick from eight-yards out.
An off-the-ball clash involving Andrade and Levi Francis resulted in the former seeing red after he appeared to pull the hair of the Malvern man with nine minutes left to play.
However, Rushden sealed their place in the next round with three minutes remaining as Ward raced through and saw his dinked effort deflect into the net off Miles Ferguson.
