Bearsted boss Kevin Stevens was proud of his team despite exiting the FA Cup in a Kent derby at Sittingbourne on Saturday.

The Southern Counties East League side gave a good account of themselves at Woodstock Park and were undone by two goals from Ira Jackson.

“We’re disappointed but proud of the effort the lads put in, I can’t fault them for that,” said Stevens.

“I’m disappointed we gave away a soft (first) goal. I didn’t think they deserved a second goal but we were trying to push people forward. I’m proud of the boys.

“We played some nice football but a few little things we didn’t get right.

“We had a couple of decent players missing and we’re really pleased with how we applied ourselves.”

With greater composure in front of goal Bearsted may have taken their higher-league opponents to a replay, while the visitors felt both Sittingbourne goals could have easily been ruled out for offside.

“I think I better keep quiet about (the first goal) - I went mad at half-time but it’s disappointing as they got it slightly wrong between them.

“The second goal I thought was the same so it’s disappointing how we gave the goals away.

“We said to the lads at half-time that when we get into the final third to settle on the ball a bit and don’t rush it.

“We needed to keep possession and wait for the openings. We seemed to rush it throughout the game, I’m not sure whether we thought we had to rush because we’re up against higher-league opposition.”

Bearsted return to league action on Bank Holiday Monday, hoping to register their first win of the season with a derby at home to K Sports.

“K Sports used to ground share with us and Kris Browning always sets his teams up well,” added Stevens.

“We watched them on Wednesday, hopefully we’ll recover and we’ve got some players who will come in. We’ve got to go again and get some points on the board.”

Read the match report from Bearsted's 2-0 FA Cup defeat at Sittingbourne here