DANNY Heale says he couldn’t be more proud of Canvey Island despite their 3-1 Isthmian North play-off final defeat against Haringey Borough.

The Gulls dominated in large parts at Borough’s Coles Park but could not make their possession count in soaring temperatures in north London.

The loss means Canvey will not be bouncing back to the Isthmian Premier League at the first time of asking, with Haringey promoted to the third tier of the non-league pyramid for the first time.

And Heale said he was proud of his players’ efforts this afternoon.

“I can’t speak highly enough of the group and I thought we were excellent,” said the Canvey manager. “For 60 minutes we were the better side, but nothing fell for us in front of goal.

“I think they got the rub of the green for large periods, but we played well.

“We tired in this heat but that is no excuse. Haringey are a decent outfit and good luck to them.”

Sam Higgins, George Sykes and Mitchell Gilbey threatened on numerous occasions for Canvey during the 90 minutes.

But Haringey - who had only conceded in one of their last nine matches - held firm with only Steve Sheehan’s late header breaching the home defence.

And Heale said his team’s failure to take advantage of the spells they controlled was costly, while he was also critical of the referee’s display.

“It was down to fine margins and we came up a little bit short,” he said.

“How a penalty can be given against Frankie [Merrifield] for their second goal when he is on the floor I do not know and then only four minutes of injury time are announced despite five substitutions and a long injury break for the goalkeeper who looks to have seriously hurt his arm. That didn’t make sense to me.

“Their third goal was offside as well. The linesman flagged and the referee waved it away as our players stopped.

“But they finished strongly and we didn’t take our chances. In the semi-final against Bowers & Pitsea we took our chances and we couldn’t do that again.

“But the support was excellent and we have to come back stronger now.”

And Heale would refuse to be drawn on his own future, admitting the defeat had taken a lot out of him.

“I will have a week to myself,” he said. “It takes a lot out of you and is a tough pill to swallow. Then we will see what the future holds.”