Dale Binns felt Sutton United showed spirit last night even though they lost 3-2 at Gosport Borough in the Vanarama Conference South.
United were 2-0 down by half-time thanks to goals from Matt Paterson and Justin Bennett before Damian Scannell pulled one back after the break.
They pushed for an equaliser but Dan Wooden scored in injury time for Gosport, with Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick then rounding off the goals for Sutton.
It leaves United with just one point from three games this month, but left-back Binns was pleased with the team’s resilience, especially after Wooden’s goal.
“It demonstrates the spirit of the team that we still kept believing even when the late goal went in,” he said.
“Most teams would try to stop the opposition from scoring any more goals but we kept pushing and refused to give in. This should serve us well going into the rest of the season.
“To get into the play-off positions will be very difficult but our theory is not to look at the long term, but to take each game as it comes and try and win them.”
It was a poor night all round for south west London sides, with Carshalton Athletic, Walton & Hersham and Corinthian Casuals also losing.
Carshalton were dramatically beaten by a 93rd minute winner from Craig Thompson as they went down 2-1 to Hythe Town in Ryman League Division One South.
The game was heading towards a draw after James Morrish’s fifth goal of the season was cancelled out by Brendan Murphy-McVey, but Thompson’s late finish saw Hythe move to within three points of mid-table Carshalton.
Walton & Hersham also suffered late heartbreak as an 89th minute David Smith goal saw them lose 1-0 at South Park.
Ten-man Casuals were ousted from the Surrey Senior Cup by Badshot Lea, courtesy of a Danny Turner hat-trick in a 4-1 win.
Turner and Gavin Muir put Badshot into a two-goal lead before Lee Hall halved the deficit just after the break.
The turning point came with Danny Dudley was sent off and Turner dispatched the resulting penalty, and then added a fourth late on.
