MANAGER Darren Perrin conceded that he felt let down by his Melksham Town’s performance for the first time during his spell in charge at the Conigre as his side were knocked out of the FA Cup by Longwell Green Sports.

After being held to a 1-1 draw by their Toolstation League Premier Division rivals in Bristol on Saturday, with Ben Thomson on target for Perrin’s men, Melksham were sent packing from the competition in Monday night’s extra preliminary round replay.

After the hosts’ Ryan Bennett had been sent off for a second booking, a late long-range free-kick from Longwell Green’s Tom Andrew’s sent the visitors through to the next round and condemned Melksham to a disappointing cup exit.

“I was very disappointed and angry with the result and the performance on Monday. I know that we were missing players but the team we put out there should have been good enough to see us through,” said Perrin.

“In the 14-16 months I’ve been in charge, that was the first time I could say that the players let me down and let the club down.

“But I can’t be too harsh on them because that’s only the first time that it’s happened and I’ve got to remember what the players have achieved for me.

“At the end of the day, it was an absolute wonder-goal that’s won it for them but it’s just frustrating because we could have played so much better than that on Monday.

“It’s done now and we’ve got to move on and concentrate on this Saturday’s game against Slimbridge.”

Perrin is still set to be without a number of his tropps for this weekend’s clash with Slimbridge at the Conigre, with Dean Flockton, Sean Benison, Dan Kovacs and Luke Smith all sidelined with injury whilst Steve Casey is away on holiday.

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