ADAM Ferrier was left feeling “gutted” after suffering what he felt was Southend Rugby Club’s most frustrating defeat of the season at Clifton on Saturday.

The Seasiders were seen off 19-18 in National Two South after conceding a try in the last move of the match.

And that infuriated Ferrier, who was among the try scorers for his side.

“That was the most frustrating loss of the season without a doubt,” said Ferrier.

“There was one team on top all game and that was us so we're gutted to have lost.

“Clifton couldn’t break us down in any area of the game and they only scored with an interception try in the dying seconds when we had 13 men on the field.

“But losing by one point or losing by 10 are both the same and it was a real kick in the teeth for us.”

The defeat was Southend’s fourth in succession and sent them down to ninth in the league table.

But Ferrier insists the side is still full of confidence and did not deserve the run of indifferent results.

“Suffering the four defeats on the bounce isn’t the best position to be in,” said the 25-year-old back row.

“We have spoken about it as a group and feel like we should have won three of these games but a lack of concentration in areas has cost us in the end.

“But the results haven’t been reflected in our training and we’re still confident in what we’re doing.”

Southend will now be bidding to bounce back to winning ways when they host fifth-placed Cambridge at Warners Bridge this weekend.

And Ferrier is confident of coming out on top.

“Cambridge are a very good team and it’s always going to be a tough game,” said Ferrier.

“But we gave them a run for their money at their place and this time we have the home advantage so I fancy our chances.”

Southend will be looking to bounce back from their narrow defeat in Bristol where they went behind after just eight minutes when centre William Meakes scored with an intercepted try which Charles Foley converted.

Southend soon hit back with Ferrier touching down after a good break from fly-half Brad Burr and that cut Clifton’s lead to 7-5.

A penalty from Burr then put the Seasiders a point in front at the break and another successful kick from the fly-half at the start of the second half made it 11-7.

Things soon got even better for Southend when new scrum half Simon Pierce teed up Mark Billings who galloped nearly 75 metres to score.

Burr’s conversion made it 18-7 with nearly an hour gone but, in the 69th minute, he was yellow-carded for a technical offence.

Soon after that, centre Thomas Preece touched down and Foley added the conversion to cut Southend’s lead to 18-14.

The Seasiders were then reduced to 13 men when Billings was also yellow-carded.

And Clifton then made the most of their numerical advantage right at the death when replacement David Massey scored in the last move of the match to seal the win.