Enfield Town’s hopes of a maiden appearance in the first round of the FA Cup were ended after losing 2-1 at Chesham United on Saturday.

The Towners had already secured their best run in the competition after reaching the fourth qualifying round. But it proved a step too far in a closely-contested tie with Chesham United edging through at The Meadow.

Manager Brad Quinton said: "We can play a lot better than we did. We didn't perform to the best of our ability. On the day we didn't show what we were capable of.

"Taking nothing away from our opponents but they weren't world beaters and we didn't play to the best of our ability."

Enfield started brightly early on and had the first opportunity of the match when Corey Whitely fired his shot over the crossbar.

The Towners went close again through Claudiu Vilcu's free-kick but it was saved by home goalkeeper Shane Gore.

But Chesham grabbed the breakthrough after 19 minutes when a corner from Dave Pearce was headed in by Curtis Ujah.

This sparked a strong spell from the hosts and Nathan Livings was needed to clear the ball from virtually off his own line.

Enfield responded and almost equalised through Ricky Gabriel but his shot struck the crossbar.

The visitors felt they could have had a penalty when Whitely fell to the ground in the area but the Enfield player was instead booked for diving.

But it got worse for Quinton's side when they fell 2-0 behind just before the half-time whistle. Toby Little's strike beat Nathan McDonald and went in off the crossbar to leave the visitors with an uphill battle for the second period.

Chesham came close to putting the contest beyond the Towners just after the restart but Matt Taylor's strike was too close to McDonald. Nick Beasant also had an opportunity for Andy Leese's side but he was denied by the visiting keeper.

The Towners were handed a lifeline late on when they pulled one back through Harry Ottaway after scoring from close range.

Enfield felt they should have been awarded a penalty in injury time when Ottaway appeared to be fouled in the area but a free-kick was awarded to the hosts.

Quinton said: "I wish we could have played at a better level but the referee spoiled the cup tie in a lot of ways for both teams."

The Towners boss wanted his players to watch the first round draw as motivation and believes they will learn from their cup run.

He said: "I think they will learn a lot from this run and we've got so close to the first round. It would have been great to see Enfield up up against a big league team."

The Towners, who entertain Hendon in the league tomorrow, have another chance in a cup competition this weekend when they host Leighton Town in the first qualifying round of the FA Trophy.

Quinton said: "It's another chance to have a good cup run and this is a more realistic opportunity for us to progress."