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Premier League quality made the difference in the end, according to Gillingham midfielder Stuart O’Keefe.
The Gills gave West Ham a major scare in Sunday's FA Cup third round but two late goals meant the high-profile visitors avoided an upset at Priestfield.
“I thought the first half we put up a real good fight,” said O’Keefe.
“We were quite assertive, played in their half and were full of energy. We didn’t really give them a sniff.
“We probably didn’t work the keeper as much as we would have liked on a number of set-pieces.
“However, the second half we didn’t quite play with the same energy and get as high up the pitch.
“Their quality told in the end. We’re disappointed, obviously, but I think we did ourselves proud and we’ll dust ourselves down and go again.”
Gillingham were the better team in the first half but were unable to get themselves ahead.
With more luck in front of goal, O’Keefe knows it could have been a different story.
“It was one of those nights with half-chances when they didn’t quite fall for us, on another day maybe one of them goes in,” he added.
“The boys worked their socks off, you can’t ask for anything more and everyone has left everything out on the pitch.
“We’re playing against Premier League-quality players and it probably told in the end.
“We believe in what we do. at home we fancy ourselves against anyone here.
“We knew that if we were up for it to a man, which we were, then we’d have a chance.
“On another day we could have gone into the break ahead and given ourselves something to hold on to but it didn’t quite happen for us.
“In the second half, it might have been tiredness, but we sat off a little bit and their good players came into it.
“The manager said we have to learn from that. It’s what football is about, you want to play in these nights and against the best players in the world.
“They had millions of pounds worth of talent on the pitch so to put ourselves up against them was fantastic.”
It was a bumper crowd at Priestfield with just under 11,000 fans creating a terrific atmosphere for the tie.
With the television cameras also in town, it was a great occasion to be part of.
“Under the lights it was a fantastic feeling to see the full stadium and hear the noise coming from the home and away ends,” said O’Keefe.
“When you’re a kid it is what you want to be involved in, you want to play in front of the TV cameras so it’s been an excellent experience from everyone.
“The boys worked their socks off and the fans recognised that. We fell short in the end but the fans respected the fact we gave it everything.”
Gills now turn their attention to League 1 action on Saturday with a trip to Peterborough – and O’Keefe knows they cannot afford to go there with a FA Cup hangover.
“It’s been a busy hectic period and now we have to prepare properly for Peterborough because we’ve got a massive game on Saturday,” said O’Keefe.
“We have to take the positives from (this defeat). Peterborough are only three points above us and are sitting in the play-offs so we can’t afford to feel sorry for ourselves.”
