Welwyn Garden City manager Nick Ironton was full of praise for his side despite their exit from the FA Trophy in a 5-1 loss at home to Aldershot Town in round three.

They trailed 1-0 at half-time to a hotly-debated penalty and although they battled bravely throughout the second-half, the National League side had enough to pull clear in the last 20 minutes despite a consolation strike from Jordan Kinoshi.

And it was that performance that gave the Citizens boss his overriding emotion.

He said: "I think 5-1 flattered them. Our boys acquitted themselves well.

"We had a game plan which was to get in at half-time 0-0 and it would have worked if it wasn’t for a ridiculous penalty given against us.

"It changed my mindset a little bit. I brought on Jordan Kinoshi and Patrick Akwasi but unfortunately we conceded again with a poor goal.

"But we then had a bit of possession. Jordan caused them a lot of problems and Patrick was through one on one.

"If he scores then, which he should have done, it changes the game.

"But they go straight up the other end and make it 3-0 which was game over.

"To be fair we kept the game-plan, kept our shape and attacked.

"We lost our legs in the last 10 minutes but I’ve got nothing but praise for the boys. They’ve done brilliantly.

"Aldershot train every day and they have 25 pros but my boys gave me everything.

"I can’t ask for any more than that."

Kinoshi was a true bright spark after arriving on 54 minutes with Akwasi.

His goal saw him twist and turn and simply waltz through the Town defence before supplying a cool finish.

And Ironton said the decision to put him on the bench in the one and only change from the side that won in the previous round against Burgess Hill was a tough one.

He said: "Jordan has been playing well but the heavy pitches mean he can’t do the 90 minutes.

"My plan was to run the legs off Jack [Vasey] and Elliot [Bailey] for the first 45 minutes and then bring the quicker players on in the second half.

"It’s just unfortunate that when they came on at 1-0 we conceded straight away.

"Jordan did really, really well though when he came on. He’s come on bundles this season."