Hadleigh United boss Steve Holder said his side will take it on the chin after being dumped out of the FA Cup at home by muscular Miildenhall.
Three players were shown straight red cards in a fiesty extra-preliminary round tie decided by a poorly defended Taylor Hastings header from a controversial free kick, against the run of play.
The Brettsiders were bullied out of the game by a physical Mildenhall side who had Alex Steed and skipper Luke Butcher sent off for separate offences in the first half and even with superior numbers Hadleigh were out-fought and out-worked by the visitors.
Ethan Clarke was also sent off in the first incident on nine minutes when he reacted to the violent tackle by Steed.
Neither team were happy with the officiating and Holder felt the red cards actually made it harder fro his side.
"We did alright but I felt the referee ruined the game early on," said Holder. "He could have just shown a couple of yellow cards and there would have been hand shales all round and we could have got on with it. But in the end it turned into a scrap
"Even the free kick they scored from should not have been a free kick, instead it was a throw in."
The game settled down once Mildenhall's Butcher was set off for an off the ball push on Hadleigh skipper Jack Baker but the visitors quickly reorganised and made it difficult for Hadleigh to play their own game.
Just as worrying was the failure to score with Joel Glover having poor game by his standards and Hadleigh rued missed opportunities.
Holder said: "We have had a couple of good chances, but so have they and Mildenhall are a good side and they took their chance and punished us.
"They have the biggest budget in the league, have spent a lot of money and are going for it. But if we play as we did against better side we will be fine, it was just a shame we cold not get over the line.
"Joel has been a bit quiet and we need a bit more from him and Harry Brown is working hard and had a good chance and should have scored."
With a cup run out of the question now, they are back in action in the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division league season against Thetford at home next Saturday.
"We put up a fight but it wasn't to be, so we take it on the chin and move on," added Holder.
"We had good pre-season but it is wedding season and we missed players today.
"We should have six back for the game against Thetford next week."
Meanwhile, club stalwart Mervyn Bignell was recognised for his 50 years involvement with non-league football, mainly with Hadleigh United, with an award presented by Suffolk FA chairman Richard Neal.
Up Close with: Hadleigh United legend Mervyn Bignell
Meanwhile, Premier Division rivals Brantham Athletic eased through their FA Cup tie with a 3-0 home win over Basildon.
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