DARREN Manning was both proud and disappointed to see Hullbridge Sports narrowly miss out on a place in the quarter-finals of the Essex Senior Cup.

Perry Dunn’s opener proved not to be enough as Isthmian North big-spenders Coggeshall Town came from behind to claim a 2-1 win at the Ryan Heating Stadium.

And Manning admitted the performance shows just how far the Essex Senior League table-toppers have come since he took over as boss 12 months ago.

“I was proud of the players because they put in a really good performance against a good side but, at the same time, I was a bit disappointed,” said Manning.

“I thought we should have nicked it or at least taken the game to penalties.

“We gave it a really good go and it shows we are giving big teams something to worry about.

“Coggeshall have one of the biggest budgets in the Isthmian North and they had to bring on their big guns, like Sam Bantick, to get the result they wanted.

“It shows how far we have come in the last year because it’s crazy that they are doing so well in the league above and have such a big budget but we made them work for the win.

“It was pleasing that the players were not overawed and we took the game to them.”

Dunn put the hosts in front two minutes after the interval after Jimmy Cox guided Matt Tapley’s free-kick into the central defender’s path.

And Manning insisted he knew Dunn was going to get his name on the scoresheet.

“I said to Perry at half-time that he will score because he was causing problems from set pieces,” added Manning.

“In all honesty, I was surprised that his goal wasn’t a header and was a volley instead.

“It’s positive that we are scoring goals all over the pitch and not just relying on our attacking players.”

But two goals in the space of two minutes allowed Coggeshall to turn the game on its head.

Nwamb Nwachulu got the Isthmian North high-flyers back on level terms by bundling the ball over the line.

And former Bowers & Pitsea winger Correy Davidson scored what proved to be the winner with 66 minutes on the clock.