OUT of the FA Cup but far from disgraced, Leiston manager, Carl Chenery paid tribute to his side after their defeat at Fleetwood last night.

Mike Bacon

OUT of the FA Cup but far from disgraced, Leiston manager, Carl Chenery paid tribute to his side after their defeat at Fleetwood last night.

Two second half goals sealed victory for the Lancashire side who now go on to entertain Hartlepool in next week's second round. However, Leiston pushed the Blue Square North club all the way.

“I've told the boys how well they battled and how proud I am off them”, Chenery said.

“We just had one or two lapses and against this level of opposition you simply can't afford to do that.

It is such a thin dividing line the higher up the leagues you go, between winning and losing, and Fleetwood showed that, especially with their first goal.

“But we have done ourselves justice and that was all I could have asked.”

Chenery also paid tribute to the Leiston fans who made the five-hour trek north to support their team in an FA Cup competition which began for them back in August.

“Our fans have been absolutely superb and all the boys would like to thank them”, Chenery added.

“There must have been nearly 150 Leiston fans here and for them to come up mid-week is not easy to do”.

Leiston Chairman Andy Crisp, although disappointed, had nothing but praise for his team and fans.

“It's been a very proud night and a great occasion for everyone involved with Leiston Football Club”, he said.

“In the end we didn't have quite enough quality, but the team gave everything and that's all we could have asked”.

Fleetwood manager Micky Mellon paid tribute to his side who he felt were deserved winners.

“I though we put on a thoroughly professional performance”, Mellon said.

“Leiston worked hard for the ball but we had that little bit of quality that was enough in the end.

In both games Leiston have competed with us well and never let themselves or their manager down, but tonight I felt we just had too much for them”.

Fleetwood's reward for their victory over Leiston is a home tie with Hartlepool who beat Brighton 2-1 last night.

Fleetwood will be hoping it will be picked as a live television game, which would net the Lancashire side £80,000 on top of the £20,000 they won last night.

Leiston return to Ridgeons Premier League action on Saturday travelling to Wivenhoe.