Soham Town Rangers boss Erkan Okay says the lesson to learn from their FA Cup defeat to Hashtag United is to see the game out better.

The Greens had taken the lead in the first-half through a delightful free-kick from Declan Rogers but they were pegged back with five minutes remaining when Jesse Larsen made it 1-1.

And the penalty shoot-out brought a 4-2 loss and exit.

And the player-boss says based on the balance of play, they should have secured the win before the “lottery” of the shoot-out.

He said: “I’m disappointed but gutted for the lads more than anything. We probably shaded it overall in terms of having the better chances and just didn’t see the game out when we needed to.

“Their goal came from nothing and we looked pretty comfortable apart from that.

“They weren’t really peppering us and their chances weren’t clear-cut. Ours were better and it looked like we’d see the game out.

“They went a bit more direct and threw more bodies up top in the last 10 minutes.

“I’m not really fussed about the penalties side of it. I’m more frustrated that we didn’t see the game out.

“We worked our socks off and maybe we ran out of steam and with tired legs comes tired minds.”

The match was played out in front of TV audience, with the BBC streaming the action online.

Okay enjoyed the experience but would gladly have swapped it for a positive result.

He said: “The experience was fantastic for everybody involved but whether it is on TV or not, you just want to go through.

“Hopefully the lads will experience that again but it was there for the taking in terms of the way the game went.”

The FA Cup match had followed an impressive 1-1 draw against league favourites Maldon & Tiptree, Cameron Watson getting the second-half equaliser.

And the Town boss wants to use the good bits in each game to help them progress in the FA Trophy against Corby Town on Saturday.

“It was a great performance against Maldon and Hashtag was an OK performance,” he said.

“We have to take the positives out of both games and take that into the FA Trophy.

“We’ve got a decent squad with options so it is just making sure the young lads learn from these games.”