Cray Wanderers boss Neil Smith felt his side deserved another bite of the cherry in the FA Cup.

The Wands were trying to reach the first round for the first time in their history but lost 1-0 to higher-league Tonbridge Angels at Flamingo Park on Saturday.

Jamie Fielding scored the only winner on 64 minutes with Cray’s late rally, which saw Anthony Cook hit the bar and skipper Tom Bonner denied by a close-range save, ultimately coming to nothing.

“I thought we deserved another bite of it in a replay, to be in that draw and have the fantasy of pulling out a big club but it wasn’t to be,” said Cray manager Smith.

“We never gave up, it was a great tackle by the number four (Ryan Hanson) right at the death and how he kept the ball out from Tom Bonner’s header, I thought that was a goal.

“They were on top first 15 minutes but after that I thought we grew into it. They’re in the division above so we knew it was going to be difficult but everything was working. I thought we had the better chances to get a draw at the end.”

There was a hint of controversy about Tonbridge’s winner. There appeared to be a foul on Quade Taylor, who was then off the pitch after receiving treatment. The subsequent throw-in was never cleared by Cray and Fielding had room in the penalty area to fire home.

“The goal they scored was soft on our part,” said Smith.

“I’m disappointed as it should have been a free-kick to us. He’s then had treatment, he’s then off the pitch, they throw it at the near post where his position is and it just worked against us.

“I don’t know how we didn’t get the free-kick but someone had to do the job that Quade should have done. I believe if he’s on the pitch then they don’t get that goal. Sometimes you need that little bit of luck and we didn’t have it.”

Cray sit bottom of Isthmian Premier with just one win from their first seven games. They can reflect on what might have been against Tonbridge but Smith knows they need to start putting points on the board.

“It's great to have the distraction of the FA Cup but it’s the bread and butter of the league now,” he added.

“The first month was hectic for us. We’ve lost one game in nine and that was the league game against Bognor when we were poor.

“We wanted to stay in the game against Tonbridge with a good half-hour to go and they scored that goal in the time space. I thought we had enough to get an equaliser but it wasn’t to be.

“If you’re in the FA Cup and teams that have won it, you need that bit of luck or individual spark. I was at Tottenham when they won it and was lucky enough to have Gazza there.

Report: Cray Wanderers 0-1 Tonbridge Angels

“We just missed that little bit of luck, the ball rattled around the box and fell to the wrong person at the wrong time, keeper pulls out a save. Hopefully, we get that bit of luck in the league now.”

Cray are at home to Chatham in the league at Flamingo Park on Tuesday night.