BOSS Tom Killick labelled Poole Town’s latest FA Cup heartbreak as "tough to take" as his charges failed to make their dominance count away at National South Chippenham.

Despite numerous promotions and league successes, Killick has never led Poole to the first round proper of the FA Cup in his 18 years at the helm – and will have to wait until next campaign for another attempt, after losing 1-0 to Mike Cook's Bluebirds.

A sloppy foul after just five minutes gave the hosts the lead direct from a free-kick, which remained the difference despite Poole’s near dominance for the remainder of the game.

Speaking to the Daily Echo, Killick said: “It’s hard to take because of our dominance. It’s hard to take because we really looked like we had a far better mentality than them.

“We had a far better intensity about our game than them, we were physically better, we were technically better – we overwhelmed them at times, it was wave after wave of attacks.

“They couldn’t deal with what we brought – which was a desire, physicality and intensity that they were unable to match.”

Dolphins’ best chances came late on, when strikers Tony Lee and Will Fletcher saw close range efforts denied by Will Henry in the Chippenham goal.

Killick said: "They (Chippenham) defended well – their goalkeeper has been exceptional. We possibly could have done a little bit better with the entries we made into the penalty area.

“We could have shown a little bit more quality when we got into those areas, because we were in those areas countless times.

“They prevailed, and fair play – it was a huge rearguard action from them. It was surprising – I thought we would struggle to keep the ball, but we found it really easy to keep possession.

“We found it easy to regain the ball – but you have to make the most of opportunities that you get.

“That is probably the only disappointment – we’ve been camped in their final third, we’ve huffed and we’ve puffed, we fought for chances, but we didn’t just show a little bit to open them up more than a few times.”