Derek Hares insists he couldn’t have asked for any more from Deal after their Kent Senior Trophy extra-time defeat to Glebe on Saturday.

The Hoops were knocked out at the quarter-final stage at the Charles Sports Ground, losing 2-1 to two penalties, both converted by prolific striker Jamie Philpot.

Deal manager Hares had no real complaints about either decision to award fellow Southern Counties East League high-fliers Glebe their penalties - but felt his side should have had one of their own too.

“I couldn’t have asked for any more from the boys,” said Hares.

“Their commitment and desire were never in question. The game just hinged on a couple of decisions - their penalties and the one we didn’t get.

“To be fair, there’s no guarantee we would have scored it but, if we had gone 2-1 up then, I think we probably would have won.”

Hares admitted it was a tough defeat to take after a real ding-dong battle.

“It was a close game and I thought it was a game between two good sides, really going for it,” Hares reflected.

“It could have gone either way. Both sides hit the woodwork and both keepers made some great saves.”

Joe Reeves equalised for Deal in the 85th minute before Hares felt his side should have been awarded a late spot-kick for a challenge on substitute Rene Rivera.

Sixth-placed Deal visit Erith & Belvedere this weekend, having won 3-0 at home to Canterbury City on Tuesday night, with Billy Munday, Rivera and Ben Chapman scoring.

Hares added: “We have got a lot of midweek games and we still have a couple of games to re-arrange I think, so I imagine they’ll be in midweek.

"I don’t think we have too many Saturdays free.”