SAMMY Moore admitted Concord Rangers gave themselves a mountain to climb as they suffered a 3-2 defeat to Wealdstone and were knocked out of the FA Trophy in the third qualifying round.

Although the Stones boasted a three-goal lead at the Aspect Arena, goals from Lee Minshull and Alex Wall gave the Beach Boys hope of staging a late fightback.

But Concord fell short against their National League South rivals and player-manager Moore was disappointed to see his side crash out of the competition.

Moore said: “We’re disappointed to have been knocked out of a cup competition that we wanted to do well in.

“The first half performance was unacceptable and way below the standards we have set as a group.

“We gave ourselves too much to do in the second half.

“When you give away three goals, you’re going to have an uphill task to get back into the game.

“We got ourselves back into it with 20 minutes to go and we did give it a go.

“We kept knocking and it just wouldn’t go in, but the first half was unacceptable and the boys know that.”

Wealdstone broke the deadlock with just 14 minutes on the clock as Jerome Okimo headed home a Bradley Hudson-Odoi cross.

Liam Nash, who has extended his loan spell from Gillingham, went close for the Beach Boys but the visitors doubled their advantage as Fumnaya Shomotun’s curling effort found the back of the net.

Nash headed just wide of the target soon before the interval, but the away side gave themselves a three-goal cushion as Danny Green converted just past the hour mark.

However, the Beach Boys refused to go down without a fight and Minshull reduced the arrears.

And Concord had hope just three minutes later as Wall’s driven shot found the target.

Wall then saw an effort go over the crossbar and the Concord goals proved to be too little too late as Moore’s side exited the competition.

And the player-manager admitted his side were off the pace.

Moore added: “We got bullied in the first half and looked like schoolboys against a good, physical side.

“We had a bit more energy and desire to score in the second half, but we were lethargic in the first half.”

Concord Rangers: Beasant, Popo, Shaw, Essam, Minshull, Sterling, Green (Clohessy 46), Nash, Wall, Midson, Blackman (Pollock 88)