Proud boss Steve Watt was moved to tears after Hythe fell short in the Isthmian South East play-off final.

Watt described the Cannons’ 1-0 defeat at Whitehawk last night as “a game too far in an unbelievable season”.

Beaten by Charlie Harris’ goal two minutes before half-time, Watt’s underdogs couldn’t find a way to defy the odds one last time.

The manager gathered his players in a post-match huddle before they stood to applaud the Hawks as they collected the play-off trophy.

“I’m not one who’s lost for words very easily but in that huddle I took about five minutes to talk,” said Watt.

“I had a lump in my throat, a tear in my eye. I had to hold back tears because what those boys have done for me is incredible.

“Believe it or not, I am an emotional person but not massively within football because I know how fickle football is.

“I’ve had personal disappointment in my career but that’s not what I feel at all right now.

“I stood in that huddle and I looked in the players’ eyes and it broke my heart.

“I went across to the fans and even though they’re celebrating, it broke my heart because I know what it would have looked like if it had been the other way round and we’d won.

“The fact I’ve not been able to give them that upsets me.

“But it’s got to be one of my favourite seasons in football.

“I’ve had some really good ones, like winning the league at Maidstone.

“That will always be hard to top but when you’re at a club that’s expected to win promotion, it’s a different feeling.

“It’s elation, it’s incredible, because you don’t often win leagues, but when you’re little old Hythe and you’re battling all the odds, it makes you smile.

“It brings a tear to the eye to think we’re here tonight.

“That’s not because I don’t think the players are good enough but the way we’ve done it, it would have been one of the best stories in non-league in my opinion if we’d managed to win.

“My disappointment for me tonight isn’t for me personally, it’s for those players, it’s for the club.

“I was desperate to do it for those players, because they’re a special, special group.”

Whitehawk struck the first blow by winning the toss and defending the considerable slope in the first half.

If the Hawks could stay in the game, they’d back themselves to beat a tiring Cannons side, feeling the effects of Tuesday’s extra-time and penalties at Ramsgate, when going downhill in the second half.

The hosts did more than that, though, creating several good chances as Hythe struggled to get going, eventually breaking the deadlock through Harris.

Watt’s side somehow summoned the energy to keep getting up in the slope in the second half but nothing would fall.

“It was a game too far in an unbelievable season,” said Watt.

“We didn’t have that edge we had on Tuesday night, particularly in the first half.

“I don’t know if the game got to a few of us a little bit but we didn’t look ourselves in that first half and we gave them a foothold in the game

“It’s a disappointing goal to concede but they had good chances before that, so I can’t say we shouldn’t be 1-0 down at half-time.

“The plan was to defend the slope in the first half - that’s the plan when every team comes here - but I felt we played better up in the slope in the second half.

“We were the better team in the second half without really creating anything.

“It was that night where we got into great positions but the cross wasn’t right, we had a long throw that bounces across the middle of the six-yard box and we’ve got bodies all around it, but it doesn’t fall to us.

“We had Sam (Itauma) slip the ball to Johan (Caney-Bryan) in the middle of the goal and it just hits his toe.

“It was that type of night - a step too far.

“What summed it up was right at the end when Elds (Nathan Elder) brings it down and plays it to Shad (Ngandu), who’s out wide with no one near him, and Shad goes to adjust his feet and falls over.

“When that happened I turned round and started shaking everyone’s hands on the bench and said thank you for this season because you knew then it just wasn’t our night.

“Congratulations to Whitehawk. They deserve it. I hope they enjoy the occasion. It’s a special night when you get promoted.

“We’re still going to have a good night. We’re going to get the microphone out and have a good singalong on the bus.”