IAN Street believes Lee Jones’ first-half dismissal gifted to Glossop a chance to progress in the FA Vase, but refused to blame him for his side’s third-round exit on Saturday.

The 1874 Northwich midfielder was shown a red card by referee Craig Taylor as punishment for shoving Kieran Lugsden after the pair tangled in the centre circle.

Lugsden put the visitors in front shortly afterwards.

“Lee lost his head and deserved to be sent off,” said Street.

“It influenced the game, and he was gutted about it afterwards.

“We may have lost anyway, so it serves no purpose to point a finger solely at one player.”

Lee Blackshaw went close to scoring twice for Glossop either side of serving Lugsden for the game’s opening goal, the front man swivelling to score from inside the six-yard box.

1874’s best spell followed, with Mike Brandon – a late call-up to replace injured Matthew Beadle – firing narrowly wide.

Stuart Wellstead then shot off-target, while Glossop goalkeeper Greg Hall thwarted Neil Chappell with a smart save.

He did the same in the second half to deny Brandon, while Danny Thomas’ acrobatic attempt prompted a more routine stop.

Glossop gradually assumed control as their opponents tired, and Tom Bailey ought to have scored after being teed up by Jason Carey.

Less than a minute later, he sent another effort against the crossbar.

Blackshaw’s volley was steered to safety by custodian Matthew Conkie at the other end before 1874’s Premier Division rivals doubled their lead when Lugsden applied a finishing touch following a scramble.

A third, clinching, goal followed when Ed Moran shot with power from the edge of the penalty area.

It ended 1874’s unbeaten sequence of 20 matches in league and cup.

“I’m upset to go out of the competition in the manner we did,” said Street.

“I asked the players to stay in the game as long as they could, and we might have had a chance had we got it back to 1-1.

“You always sensed that Glossop were waiting for our legs to go – they knew they could make that count in the closing stages.

“We now need to dust ourselves down and start another run if we can.

“It’s been great to get as far as we have in the FA Vase, though I believed we could have gone a lot further.

“The important thing is to get back on track.”

1874 Conkie (GK), Mitchell, Duckworth (Short 76), Thomas, Woolley, Chappell, Wellstead, Jones, Brandon, Ward, Stewart (Woods 65) Subs not used Connor, Beadle, Bayley 

Glossop Hall (GK), Richardson, Russell, Kelvin Lugsden, Young, Bowler (Parker 85), Blackshaw, Carey (Denham 60), Bailey (Grimshaw 65), Kieran Lugsden, Moran Subs not used Hind, Gresty Goals Kieran Lugsden 27, 72 Moran 80

Referee Craig Taylor

Attendance 421

Additional reporting by Garry Clarke