London Colney manager Ryan Thompson praised his side despite succumbing to a 1-0 defeat to Hertford Town in last night’s Hertfordshire Charity Shield final.

Hertford’s Leigh Rose scored the winner in the 67th minute but the Blueboys had to play the with 10 men for the majority of the game after Harry Sedgley was controversially sent off for violent conduct in the 40th minute at the County Ground.

“The lads have done brilliantly and we deserved to win the game but obviously the sending off changes everything,” said Thompson.

“After that we were still the better side, so this is a bitter pill to swallow but we need to suck it up and come back stronger.”

Despite congratulating Hertford on their victory with a bottle of champagne, Thompson was not impressed with Hertford’s antics both on the pitch and in the dugout.

“Their players were rolling around, diving all over the place and running to surround the referee at every opportunity trying to get our players sent off,” Thompson said.

“To send off Sedgley was a poor decision and it doesn’t help when their manager runs across the six yard area yelling towards the referee. That just isn’t right.”

Thompson’s side received seven yellow cards in a full-blooded contest and the manager himself was sent off for dissent as tempers spiraled out of control on both sides.

“Their bench said I was swearing at the referee which isn’t true so to be dismissed was very frustrating,” he said. “How I reacted after was born out of that injustice and then I let my frustrations boil over and for that I apologise.”

The Colney boss however was proud of his side’s resilience and tenacity as they dominated the final 20 minutes of the game despite having 10 men, with Hertford putting five players in defence.

“The effort from the team, despite the performance of the officials tonight, was superb and it shows the character and spirit we have here and that bodes well for the future.”

Colney will hope to bounce back in the league this weekend with the visit of Cockfosters on Saturday.