Dover boss Chris Kinnear found it hard to contain his disappointment after the FA Trophy exit at Bath City on Tuesday

Following Saturday’s 3-3 draw at Crabble, the Conference South side won the quarter-final replay 2-1 to end Whites’ hopes of reaching the semi-finals for the first time since 1998.

Kinnear said: “Everyone at the club, the players, officials and fans are disappointed – that goes without saying.

"We just didn’t start the game at all well. We were sluggish and they made us pay with the way they play.

“They are small and nippy up front, something that we don’t come up against in the league. If you play like that in our league, you will lose more than you win.

“But that’s their way and it suits them. They now have three Conference Premier scalps in the trophy this season – Bristol Rovers, Altrincham and now us.”

But Kinnear said it wasn’t all doom and gloom, no matter how much he and his players are hurting.

He said: “If the season ended now, we would have had a great one.

“We’ve had terrific runs in both the FA Cup and FA Trophy but you get knocked out of them (cups) and people forget about it.

“But it (the season) is far from over and there is still so much to play for and now we’ve got to rise to that challenge.

“We’ve done so well in the league so far and there is no reason why we can’t continue to do so.

“Losing at Bath was a bitter pill to swallow but that’s football. We’ve just got to move on and make sure we are up for Saturday’s game at Halifax.

“The lads have the character to do that.”

Kinnear’s side will be keen to even things up against FC Halifax after the Shaymen won the season-opener 1-0 at Crabble on August 9.Kinnear said: “That was a long time ago. We’ve learned a great deal since that day.”