St Neots 2, Dereham Town 0'Sometimes in football you just have to accept that you've been beaten by a better team, and that was certainly the case at St Neots,' said a philosophical Dereham manager Matt Henman after their FA Cup exit.

St Neots 2, Dereham Town 0

'Sometimes in football you just have to accept that you've been beaten by a better team, and that was certainly the case at St Neots,' said a philosophical Dereham manager Matt Henman after their FA Cup exit.

'They have an enviable amount of talent and experience for this level of football and their facilities and pitch are second to none.

'My disappointment was that we didn't do ourselves justice or show the necessary belief to pull off an upset.

'We were also hampered by the fact that we were missing three key players in Olly and Sam Willis and Kyle Downes, all of whom have made excellent starts to the season. Add to that the fact that Nicky Howell, Stuey King and Craig Terrington are all recovering from injuries, and our squad used its full depth.

'That having been said, I do feel we would need to have been at full strength and to have played somewhere near our best in order to have beaten their side,' said Henman.

'We had four players under 20 on the day, and young Joe Manning deputising for Olly at right back will definitely be better for the experience.'

The Magpies have had a free week in which to train, and Henman said: 'I hope we can recreate at Clacton this Saturday the sort of performance we put in against Wisbech, then I'm sure we'll continue our encouraging start to the league campaign.'

On Tuesday night, Dereham entertain Ely City.

At St Neots, the margin of defeat could have been greater but for some good saves by Sean Marshall and a goal-line clearance.

In a frantic opening before Marshall was tested by a 25-yarder. Dereham started to produce some fine build-up play, but the final ball lacked quality as St Neots dragged wide.

Dereham's first corner of the game after 28 minutes came to nothing, and when Steve Harley was yellow-carded in the 33rd minute, the resulting free-kick proved costly. The initial shot hit a post, but the re-bound was knocked home .

The Magpies responded with a goal-bound effort from Gary Starling which was well saved.

St Neots wasted a fine chance after 40 minutes, firing over from close range. Dereham's Danny Beaumont was close to connecting with a cross-shot from Scott Roberts

Ian Morgan replaced Harley at half-time and nearly made an immediate impact, but his header from Beaumont's cross lacked pace.

St Neots increased their lead after 55 minutes, slotting home after Marshall had parried a shot.

The Dereham keeper was forced into two superb saves, from a 35-yard shot and a close-range header, and Adam Gusterson cleared a late effort off the line.