Stuart Cash believes Margate didn't do themselves justice in a tame exit from the FA Cup.

Hosting a home tie in the fourth qualifying round stage of the competition for the first time in 38 years, Gate were second best against Ady Pennock's Vanarama National League leaders, who made light of the absence of first-choice strikers John Parkin and Aaron O'Connor, and goalkeeper Jonny Maxted.

Gate No.2 Cash was disappointed with Gate's performance in all three departments.

He said: "I thought we started the game poorly, Forest Green took control in the first 20-25 minutes, they pressed us well, meaning we couldn't get our passing game going in a game which I didn't think was a typical FA Cup tie.

"It was too slow from our point of view, the tempo wasn't high enough, and I was disappointed with the way we played."

He added: "We were playing at home against a side who are top of their league, but had seven or eight players missing.

"We were aware of that, and I don't think we caused them enough problems in the final third. I was disappointed with the way we reacted after scoring, and the way we defended for their second goal.

"Luke Moore's was a good goal, because it's hard to create chances against a team at a higher level than us, but I thought that once we scored we would have kicked on, and we didn't do that.

"The next five or 10 minutes were really important, having got level, but we were sloppy after that.

"I haven't seen their second goal on replay, but it looked poor from actual play, and we should have done a lot better."

Margate were aiming for a place in the first round for the first time in 13 years, but Cash said while the occasion was good, they failed their screen test in front of the live BT Sport cameras.

He said: "Off the pitch it was great, but I don't think we did ourselves any justice on it.

"We have got the reputation of being a good footballing team, but we didn't show any of that."