Manager Alex White described Clevedon Town's exit in the FA Vase as "heartbreaking" after defeat to Southall in a penalty shootout on Saturday.
Archie Ferris was the unlucky player to miss as his spot kick hit the base of the post and hand Southall victory.
The Seasiders had levelled the scores through Frankie Taylor's own goal midday through the second-half, cancelling Lenny Farhall's opener.
"It was heart-breaking and the cruellest way to go out, but we went toe to toe with a very good side particularly in the second-half and we left nothing behind, but in the end, we just fell short by the width of a post," said White.
With both sides yet to play a competitive game this year it was Southall who almost took the lead when Glen Hayer cleared Alex Nolan’s cross-shot off the line.
But the hosts did open the scoring after 27 minutes with a quick breakaway.
A ball into the Clevedon box caused havoc when Jack Woods hit the woodwork, Charles Lovell did well to push his follow-up on to the post which debutant Woods hit again with his third attempt. This time the rebound fell to Farhall to put Southall ahead at half-time.
The Seasiders drew level on 62 minutes when Alex Camm’s low cross was slammed into his own net by Southall’s Taylor as he attempted to clear from Ethan Feltham as the scores ended level and went straight to penalties with no extra time.
Despite going first the Seasiders' were soon up against it when Ferris struck the base of a post with their second kick.
Both sides confidently put away all the other kicks before Southall captain Ryan Hope put away the last kick to secure their fourth successive shootout win in the competition.
"Congratulations to Southall – we wish them well in the next round and hope they go all the way," White added.
"For us we will certainly learn from this experience and I’m sure the negative feelings will bind the group closer together and we will deal with that dejection going forward.
‘There’s still a lot to play for and we now go back to finishing as high as possible in the league and giving it a real good go in the Les Phillips Cup, which now becomes a very important competition for us.
"For me we saw today how different the cup is to the league. You have to make decisions quicker as we did today in switching the formation to change the course of the game and we will look to use that experience to good effect in the Les Phillips Cup.
On Saturday Clevedon travel to Buckland Athletic, the only Toolstation Western League side left in the Vase, and White said, "we hope to catch them with a bit of a hangover with their minds on the Vase now and provide an opportunity for us to bounce back."
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