The Kempsey Saints' fairy tale run in the FFA Cup has come to an end after they suffered a 1-0 defeat to Bangalow in the round five clash.
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Kempsey Saints coach Kevin Sinclair said his side gave 100 per cent in a high quality match, but ultimately they fell to a much more experienced side.
"The majority of their side was in their 30s and they were very good players," Sinclair said.
"Bangalow are one of the top two sides in the Far North Coast competition.
"But we pushed them and had some quality chances."
Bangalow's winner came midway through the second half, but Kempsey had numerous opportunities to break the deadlock prior to that.
Troy Ward, Kurtis Smith and Lachlan Jay all fired shots narrowly wide of the target.
However, Bangalow applied plenty of pressure to Saints' backline and goalkeeper Jacob Lyttle had another terrific match.
"They took plenty of shots from outside the box," Sinclair said.
"The boys gave 100 per cent throughout the whole game. Defensively, we restricted them from getting clear cut chances. Everyone played at the highest level."
Despite being eliminated, Sinclair had plenty of praise for the new FFA Cup format.
"We played all three games against sides from outside of our region which was great to experience," Sinclair said.
"We have learned a lot from each game and our players have had to lift in the last two matches. Hopefully they can continue to compete at this high level for the rest of the season."
Sinclair also commended the referee, who allowed the game to flow.
"It was a very physical game. It took us about 15-minutes to adjust to the refereeing - he didn't blow his whistle much, only about three times each half," Sinclair said.
"It was great, it prevented a stop-start game. There wasn't anything malicious in any of the tackles, it was just a very physical game from both sides and it was highly entertaining."
The Saints' focus will return to the Football Mid North Coast Premier League competition. Kempsey are currently in fourth position but have two games in-hand.
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