Kendal Town suffered FA Cup heartache as they lost out to a late goal at Nuneaton, denying themselves a place in the first round on the famous competition.

Had Town got through against the Southern Premier League outfit, they would have been looking for-ward to a dream Parkside Road tie against League One outfit Exeter City, a real money-spinner in front of a packed crowd.

As it was, Town were left heart-broken as Nuneaton celebrated their progress.

Having run the rule over the opposition in recent weeks, boss Lee Ashcroft firmly believed his side would never have a better opport-unity to make the first round draw – and that was reflected in his side’s dominance of this tie.

Midfielder Warren Beattie teed up Ryan Salmon on five minutes and, despite the recent signing losing his footing, he was still able to get his shot away.

However, the ball struck the cross bar to deny Kendal a dream start.

Two minutes later the nervous looking hosts almost gifted Kendal a goal when keeper Darren Acton made a hash of a clearance, slicing the ball across the penalty area but there was no Kendal shirt on hand to capitalise.

Nuneaton full back James Arm-son’s strong run from deep ended with a decent shot at goal, the effort fizzing just wide of target, but there was an anxious moment for the Kendal camp as keeper David Newnes remained on the ground in considerable pain.

Fortunately, after lengthy treat-ment, he was able to resume.

Kendal sensed an opportunity and continued to dominate. Danny Wisdom curled a shot just wide of the upright, while a well-worked Kendal set piece saw defender Glenn Steel head the ball into the danger area and Alex Taylor pounced only to see his shot turned behind for a corner.

As half time approached, Salmon had another opportunity as he headed a Kieran Walmsley centre off target.

Nuneaton saw more of the ball in the second half but Kendal once again proved to be more creative.

Strong claims for a handling offence were waved away denying Kendal a 63rd minute penalty, while skipper Tony Hallam was on the end of a Walmsley free kick but somehow lifted over from eight yards.

On 84 minutes the deadlock was almost broken when Taylor spotted the keeper off his line but his attempted lob went within a whisker of the goal.

In a cruel finale, Newnes, whose penalty save in the previous round helped Kendal progress, kicked poorly and Matthews headed the ball into the path of substitute Gez Murphy, who despite being forced wide was able to pick out the unmarked Rob Foster for a simple tap in.

Hallam had a chance to force a reply at the death when he rose to head Walmsleys free kick but he failed to find the target.