CHRISTCHURCH 2 BRIDPORT 1

TREVOR Senior insists he “could not fault” his players despite seeing their FA Vase dream brought to an end at Christchurch.

Returning Sam Charles gave the Bees a half-time lead at Hurn Bridge but a second-half brace from Ben Osborne saw the Wessex Premier League outfit prevail and advance to the second round.

The Bridport boss, whose side missed out on a £900 prize pot, said: “Christchurch are a good side but I could not fault our lads as they were absolutely superb.

“I had a report on Christchurch and we knew they had two or three strong players.

“One of those was the midfielder Mark Smith. I gave Russell Legg a man-to-man job on him and although it was a bit of a risk, he carried out the job superbly and I can’t remember Mark having much of a kick.

“We looked good going forward and we defended well. We got our goal and it could have been more with a bit of luck.

“But they scored early in the second half and it knocked us a bit as it came from nothing.

“Chris Senior made a good tackle just outside the area but the ball fell nicely for Osborne and although he still had a bit of work to do, he tucked it away well.

“We went up the other end and Matt Condliffe had a shot well saved by the keeper. We also had a free-kick from Sam Charles that hit someone in the wall and bounced off the crossbar.

“Having defended really well, the ball got caught under Shane Evans’ feet in the 75th minute and Osborne nicked it off him and finished from around the penalty spot. Shane was superb all game and it was just one of those things.

“I don’t think we deserved to lose. I tell the lads before every cup game not to have any regrets and I don’t think they can have any. There were plenty of positives to come out of the game.”

The Bees will look to bounce back tomorrow night when Wells City visit St Mary’s Field in Toolstation Western Premier Division action.

Bees: Filkins, Symes (Lock 81), Condliffe (C Clarke 86), Evans, Senior (Watts 78), Hayter, J Charles, Wise, S Charles, Legg, Richardson. Subs not used: Peart, Cleal.