BRIDPORT 2 HIGHWORTH TOWN 3

TREVOR Senior was immensely frustrated after his side were knocked out of this season’s FA Cup by Gareth Davies’s injury-time winner.

The Bridport boss saw the hosts come from behind twice at St Mary’s Field on Saturday thanks to goals from Dan Wise and Tom Richardson.

But with a replay looking on the cards, Davies scrambled in what Senior thought was a “soft” goal to bag the visitors a place in the preliminary round and a guaranteed £1,500.

TJ Bohane gave Hellenic League Premier Division Highworth a 22nd-minute lead before Wise converted from the spot following a foul on Adam Symes just before the break.

Matt Horsell’s deflected effort put Highworth 2-1 up not long after the interval, only for Bees’ substitute Richardson to equalise from close range on 83 minutes.

However, with the clock ticking down, a free-kick into the Bridport box wasn’t cleared and Davies swooped to win it for Highworth.

“We shot ourselves in the foot,” said Senior, whose men have also lost their first two league games this term.

“It was an exciting game to watch but it’s so frustrating for us because we’re out of the cup.

“There was a little bit of naivety in our play which frustrates me.

“We can’t keep giving away soft goals and have got to defend better.

“We did well to come from behind twice and we should have consolidated what we had and not given away such a cheap free-kick near the end.”

He went on to add: “We didn’t freeze on the day and we had a good go at them.

“I thought we deserved a draw and I would have taken a replay at 2-2 because we could have beaten them at their place.”

Bridport’s woes were compounded by no fewer than six of their players picking up bookings.

Jamie Filkins, Sean Stewart, Ryan Hayter, Chris Clarke, Chris Senior and Richardson were all cautioned, while the Highworth manager was also sent off.

Bees: S Filkins, J Filkins, Condliffe, Clarke, Stewart (Richardson 65), Hayter, A Symes, Wise, J Symes (Evans 75), Dovell, Morley (Senior 80)