GARRY Kimble believes Great Wakering Rovers could have pulled off an Essex Senior Cup upset were it not for some ill-discipline at AFC Hornchurch.

Wakering were looking to book their place in the quarter-finals of the competition, but the visitors finished the encounter with nine men and Hornchurch took advantage to secure a 3-0 win.

And Kimble was left frustrated as he believes Wakering were in control before Jason Ring was shown a straight red card with just 23 minutes on the clock.

“There was not much difference between the two sides before the first red card,” said the Wakering boss.

“I was pleased with how we had started the game, but the sending off killed us really.

“Jason put in a reckless challenge and, in all honesty, it was a red card.

“We did ever so well with nine men and their management team congratulated us after the game.

“But I was a bit disappointed because we were on top before the red card and, at the end of the day, the scoreline flattered them.”

A reckless challenge saw Ring given his marching orders midway through the first half.

And Hornchurch capitalised as Nana Boakye-Yiadom, who was with Concord Rangers during the summer, hit the opener nine minutes before the break.

The Urchins were to double their advantage four minutes later thanks to Lewwis Spence finding the back of the net.

And it was a goal that frustrated Kimble.

“The second goal they scored was a joke,” added Kimble, who was appointed manager in the summer following Iain O’Connell’s decision to resign just a matter of months after leading Wakering to the Essex Senior League title.

“Scott Pethers cut out a cross and the referee gave a back-pass when Coey Turipa picked the ball up.

“It was an interception that Scott had made - he wasn’t trying to give the ball back to Coey.

“That frustrated me because it was the wrong decision from the referee and they scored from the indirect free-kick.”

Ollie Woodhouse was shown a second yellow card with 15 minutes to play and the home side completed the scoring three minutes later through George Purcell.

However, Kimble was keen to praise the performance of Jake Gordon, who also scored two goals in the defeat to Tilbury last weekend.

“Jake has been playing ever so well and I think he is in a rich vein of form,” admitted Kimble.

“It’s just a case of Jake needing to be consistently good instead of being hit and miss.

“If he finds that consistency then he will be a very good player for us.”