ANOTHER FA Cup campaign is over before it began, which fills me with disappointment and frustration.

It’s a competition I really wanted to do well in and make some new history for the club. The last three years have seen us fail to win an FA Cup tie, although it has to be said the draws haven’t been kind to us.

We were hurt by some difficult circumstances in the 2-0 loss against Haringey Borough on Saturday but, as a group, we expect to do better and won’t allow ourselves to make excuses.

I’m never concerned with the impact of one particular game. It was a disappointing result but I believe over the course of a season the hard work we put in collectively will reward us accordingly.

I believe in my players and as long as they believe in me we will always be a good match for anyone. One bad result doesn’t change how I feel about that.

It was a shame to see local teams suffer the same fate as us. There were a couple of shock results but that’s the magic of the competition.

In this day and age, the top English clubs field their second teams until they reach a time in the competition when their league campaign may be faltering so they take it more seriously. It’s a misrepresentation of the competition.

The magic is well and truly alive at the grassroots level and means everything to us non-league clubs.

Local representation in the competition falls on the shoulders of Billericay and then East Thurrock and Concord. Do us proud fellas!

The biggest blow for me this weekend wasn’t the result, but seeing Tom Hine stretchered off after an innocuous fall. Tom felt something ‘pop’ in his knee so we await an MRI scan to assess the damage.

For someone who has been through the mill it was especially upsetting as I know how hard he has worked to return to a competitive level of fitness.

As he has shown before, when life deals you a setback the successful people fight back and drag themselves back up.