WHITLEY Bay boss Ian Chandler said he felt his side deserved at least a replay, after the four-time winners bowed out of this season’s FA Vase to Brantham Athletic.

But he was honest enough to admit: “To be fair, if you don’t put the ball in the net you don’t deserve to win. They managed to do it once and that proved to be enough.

“I thought we had the majority of the game and there were spells when we missed chances and the keeper made some good saves. It was in the back of my mind that we would get caught out at some point.

“I thought a replay was the least we deserved, but if you don’t score you can’t expect to win.

“We ended up chasing the game, but they fought hard and put themselves on the line.

“We have been involved in many games like in the past, but we have managed to get a draw.

“I thought their big centre forward (Josh Mayhew) was very useful and the keeper (Ryan Bedingfield) proved his worth.

“Although it is disappointing to lose, we have been made to feel very welcome and there was a great atmosphere. Good luck to Brantham.”

Brantham boss Tony Hall said: “I think everybody gave everything they had out there today.

“It was one of those games which could have gone either way. We were the better side in the first half, but they battered us in the second half.

“There were two good sides out there and I thought 1-0 was always going to be the final result.”

Hall, who also praised centre back Adam Bloss, added: “Rigga (Ryan Bedingfield) was man-of-the-match. He made some great saves – pin-point saves as well – and kept us in the game when we needed him to.”