Proud Deal boss Steve King went through plenty of emotions in their FA Cup third qualifying round exit at Chatham on Saturday.

The Isthmian South East side bowed out as they put in a plucky performance in a 3-1 loss at the Bauvill Stadium.

Striker Rory Smith put Deal into a surprise sixth-minute lead but two-goal striker Stanley Oldfield and defender Alex Giles put the full-time Isthmian Premier high-fliers into a 3-1 half-time advantage.

With a shortage of defensive options on the substitutes’ bench, it could have easily got much worse for King’s team after the interval, although they edged the second period and were unlucky not to set up a grandstand finish.

King said: “I’ve probably gone through a lot of emotions in the game!

“We came here with a game-plan to try and get at them where we could, and not just be a sitting duck. It’s always hard when you go away to higher-league opposition because you have to show them respect but, also, you want to cause them problems.

“For 15 minutes, we did that really well. We got the goal, which I felt we deserved and then we have been undone by two set-pieces.

Report: Chatham 3-1 Deal

“They, obviously, are going to have a spell. At half-time, you’re thinking ‘Okay, this could be a tough afternoon’ - we already had a game like that earlier this season where it sort of fell apart for us (losing 6-1 at Faversham) - but we played really well in the second half.

“We probably deserved a goal in the second half. Did we deserve two? Probably not.

“But if we got one, anything can happen.

“We have got a bit to learn because I felt we looked a bit soft at the end of the first half but, if you had offered me the performance before the game, I would have taken it - not the result because you never want to lose - but I’d have taken that performance.

“I’m proud of them.”

The Hoops broke the deadlock as captain Tom Chapman picked up a stray pass by counterpart Reece Butler and fed cousin Smith, who fired in.

“It’s one we probably won’t really get any credit for,” said King.

“You can’t come somewhere like here and just press everything. But we had set a couple of plans up where we felt we could press.

“The one where we got the goal was one we had talked about and looked at. We, obviously, did our analysis work on them and just thought their left-hand side, our right-hand side, might be where we could go hard.

“We had a couple before it where we sort of nearly nicked it. Then, Tom’s shown his quality, put Rory in and he finished.

“It was a great start.”

But Deal’s longest FA Cup run in the 21st century ended as three goals in 11 first-half minutes proved their undoing - two of them coming from corners.

“The real disappointment is, with the team we had down to play today on Tuesday morning, we wouldn’t have conceded those goals,” said King, whose team were 3-1 league winners at Hassocks last midweek.

“But I lost Alex Green to concussion on Tuesday, lost Josh Vincent to a hamstring injury on Tuesday, and Jacob Strouts is suspended. When we’re doing the set-pieces and all our preparations, we have got Alfie Foster - and not much else!

“Our aim was to try to limit the set-pieces that we give away. For the second goal, we have got Jack Paxman marking Alex Giles and that’s a mismatch.

“We know we need to be bigger across the squad but I wasn’t expecting those players to not be available. I feel a bit sorry for myself and the boys in that respect, but the deliveries were good and they’re two good headers.

“It was a frustrating one. I think the way we gave the corners away was frustrating, as well, because it was a bit sloppy.

“Then, the third goal is really the one that upsets me because I thought we defended it a bit softly. We were countering, they nicked it and I felt they got through us too easily.

“That didn’t really happen at any other point in the game. Even when it was stretched, they weren’t getting through easily.

“That spell has, ultimately, lost us the game.”

The Hoops are Erith Town in the Velocity Cup next Tuesday but their main priority now is on improving their 18th-placed league position.

King reflected: “That was a massive result on Tuesday.

“We’re not a million miles off and people would have seen that. You don’t want to do is put yourself under pressure in your own league by, not getting cut adrift, but being in that relegation zone where every game comes with pressure.

“For us to go there and win on Tuesday, that was really important. We played well.

“Today, we wanted to try and win the game, and we wanted to make a statement. We tried. We kept going and Kev (Hake, Chatham’s boss) said at the end ‘Keep going, you have got a good side’ which is nice to hear from opposition managers.

“Now we have got a League Cup game on Tuesday - one that we could really do without - and we have got two home games on the bounce in the league in Sevenoaks and Eastbourne Town.

“If we get to the levels we got to today, we’ll be looking to pick up two results and then league table might look different.”

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