St Albans City joint manager James Gray made no excuses after his out of sort’s side crash out of the FA Cup.

The Saints, seeking back-to-back FA Cup first round visits, were undone by a superior Concord Rangers side who reached the first round for the first time in their history from a superb second half volleyed strike.

An under-par City did little to unsettle an assured defence, as the away side dominated the second period to deny them a third straight win in all competitions.

“They weren’t streets ahead of us. It was quite a flat, boring game for a fourth round FA Cup qualifier,” said Gray.

“I don’t think we deserved to win it today. In terms of quality we weren’t good enough.

“We didn’t step up to the plate and that’s the most disappointing thing. I thought our boys would give us a bit more than they did today, the quality was missing.

“We didn’t really do anything to test them. Our most dangerous threat was from a set piece or throw-in and that is not what we are about. Too many were off their game today.”

The home side, without the influential John Frendo, had just four shots on target in what proved to be a difficult and frustrating afternoon.

“They just had more cutting edge than we did. Overall when we had the football our quality was nowhere near good enough. We didn’t test their keeper, or have enough shots. The game was there for us to take today.”

He added: “They sneaked a goal. Fair play to them. They came here and did a job on us. They never let us settle.”

The Saints will hope that they can rediscover that cutting edge away to Bath City in the Vanarama Conference South next weekend.