SLOUGH Town joint-manager Jon Underwood cannot fault their effort and desire to remain in the FA Cup despite a 3-2 defeat against Chippenham Town in the third qualifying round replay on Tuesday night, writes Rob Stevens.

The Rebels twice recovered from falling behind to draw 3-3 at Chippenham in the original tie last weekend and twice levelled the scores in the replay at Arbour Park, but a goal from Karnell Chambers six minutes from the final whistle ensured The Bluebirds would progress.

A Nat Jarvis strike gave the visitors a narrow lead heading into the break but an own goal from a Max Worsfold corner kick saw Slough equalise five minutes into the second half.

The Rebels were on level terms for less than five minutes however as Luke Haines scored with a wonder goal, before Matthew Lench equalised again with a cross-come-shot with 15 minutes remaining.

The close-range volley from Chambers late on secured the win for Chippenham and a trip to Whyteleafe from the Isthmian League South East Division in the fourth qualifying round on Saturday 19th October.

Underwood admits he felt desperately disappointed to lose and that it is a real blow to exit the FA Cup, but he has warned The Rebels not to dwell on the defeat with Billericay Town set to visit Arbour Park in the National League South this Saturday (3pm).

He told the Observer: "We're desperately disappointed to go out after two very close games that we've had with Chippenham. There was very little in it and we gave everything on Tuesday.

"Our effort and desire was there for all to see, but we kept on going behind in the game and gave ourselves a mountain to climb. We kept on getting pegged back and were having to chase the game.

"Chippenham were always dangerous on the break and very lively going forward. They were quite clinical and picked us off a couple of times.

"We made most of the running and had a lot of possession in the first half. It was a big blow for them to score just before half-time but we were relatively pleased with the performance.

"The second half was just crazy. It was end-to-end and both sides had chances. The game could've easily gone either way but we've just fallen short.

"Our quality wasn't quite good enough at times in how we pass the ball, but I can't question our workrate and desire to try and stay in the cup and we very nearly nicked another 3-3 draw at the end."

Underwood continued: "We've had two great years in the competition, which makes you want it more and more and you're hungry to repeat that, so it's a real blow to go out at this stage.

"We dreamed about getting into the first round proper again but we can't do it every year.

"Fair play to Chippenham, they have got a good chance of progressing with the draw they've got for the next round and best of luck to them.

"We need to dust ourselves down and have a positive night in training on Thursday. We've got a huge game on Saturday which is good because we can't afford to be down.

"We have got to put this behind us and remind ourselves how great we've done over the last couple of months. We've put ourselves in a great position and now we need to try and push on."