Hythe & Dibden were cruelly dumped out of the FA Vase after surrendering the lead and conceding three times in the closing stages against Hallen at the Marquis Leisure Stadium on Saturday.

The hosts looked to be on course for a place in the next round when Rhys Crookes converted a penalty three minutes into the second half, but Hallen hit back before scoring twice in the final three minutes to turn the tie around.

Manager Rich Morse admitted his side were disappointed to see their cup run end, particularly after enjoying such a good experience in the competition last season.

He said: “Disappointed to go out of the cup as we had such a good ride in it last season, but we gave everything we could and just weren’t meant to be sadly.”

Hythe had reached half-time on level terms before Crookes put them ahead from the penalty spot in the 48th minute.

But Morse felt a forced change in defence, following the departure of captain Sam Boon, disrupted his side just as they needed to take control of the game.

“Going 1-0 up, we needed to control the game, but we had to make a forced change in defence due to Sam Boon coming off and that didn’t help our flow,” he said.

Hallen drew level in the 65th minute when Harrison Fairman surged past a defender and squared the ball for Josh Williams to slot home.

The equaliser proved a turning point, although Hythe felt aggrieved at the circumstances surrounding the goal, with Morse believing a foul had been committed on one of his players.

“Then for their second we thought it was a foul on our player which then lead to them taking the lead,” he added.

Fairman then took centre stage, scoring twice in the closing stages to secure Hallen’s progress.

He put the visitors ahead in the 87th minute after a dazzling run took him past the goalkeeper and left the defenders trailing before he finished.

Just two minutes later, he used his pace to reach the ball ahead of a defender and poked it past the advancing goalkeeper to complete the 3-1 victory.

Hythe had thrown men forward in search of a way back into the tie after falling behind, but were caught on the counter-attack for Hallen’s third.

Morse said: “Being 2-1 down with 10 minutes to go, we threw everything at it but got caught on the counter-attack for their third.”

Petersfield Town visit on Tuesday, for a 7.45pm kick-off, before Andover New Street make the trip on Saturday, with the kick-off at 3pm.

Morse is hoping Tuesday’s match can provide the starting point for a response, adding: “We can now focus on improving our league form, which hopefully will start Tuesday against Petersfield.”

Hythe & Dibden: J. Bruce, H. Legg, K. Lane, M. Shobbrook, L. Chance, B. Beard, K. Skoczcen, D. Cupid, S. Woodward, R. Crookes, E. Batista. Subs: S. Boon, T. Moore, H. Russell, C. White, M. Laptas.