WITTON Albion saw their FA Trophy participation brought to an end, but Northwich Victoria have marched on in the FA Vase.
Sado Djalo’s goal eight minutes from time condemned Witton to a home defeat to Dunston UTS, who rode away from the U Lock It Stadium with a 1-0 victory.
Ben Harrison’s side also finished the game with 10 men when Aaron Fleming was sent off shortly after coming on as a substitute but the manager was, on the whole, pleased with what he saw from his side in terms of performance if not result.
However, he expressed frustration at a lack of a killer instinct from Albion to leave themselves open to the late sucker-punch.
"I thought we played really well today," he said.
"The first half was quite even – we lacked a little bit of intensity but we still played well. Defensively, we looked good and pressed well.
"We got in some great positions and that was probably the story of the game, but the final pass just wasn’t there and it’s got to be. The final pass has got to be the most important pass.
"We were in control in the second half and I thought it was coming – we’ve had chances from corners and others but it just seemed to not fall for us.
"When you miss chances and don’t take care of the final third, you leave yourselves open and they’ve hit us on the break.
"They’re a good side – I thought we were the better team, especially in the second half, but it’s not like we’ve been robbed – not at all.
"They’ve played well and got the goal at the end."
Meanwhile, Vics carried their league form into the knockout format by beating Maghull 2-0 in the FA Vase second qualifying round to record their ninth successive win in all competitions.
Kieron Hamm opened the scoring midway through the first half - having earlier had a goal ruled out for a foul, Hamm was found by a great run and cross from Ryan Atkinson before slotting coolly past the goalkeeper.
The visitors then made the game safe when Ben Crane's superb run from deep inside his own half ended with him slipping the ball to Sean Cooke, whose shot found the net via a deflection.
“We came here and showed them a lot of respect because they deserve it – they’re a good club that are flying in their own division,” joint-manager Luke Goddard said.
“We’re not going to dictate every game on our own terms – we have to learn to win in lots of different ways and today, the weather has been horrendous and it was a big banana skin.
“We weren’t fantastic with the ball, but we’ve got the job done and we’re through to the next round. Nine wins in a row takes some doing.
“It’s nice to be in the first round proper now so let’s see what excitement we can bring in the Vase.”
Meanwhile, Barnton’s participation in the FA Vase will go no further after they lost heavily at Cheadle Town.
Matthew Smyth was on target twice for the hosts, for whom Liam Delaney, Abdullahi Ahmed and Jamie Walsh also netted.
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