GUTTED St Ives joint-boss Jez Hall was left to rue his side’s “painful” 2-0 Hunts Senior Cup final defeat against St Neots at Jubilee Park on Monday.

GUTTED St Ives joint-boss Jez Hall was left to rue his side’s “painful” 2-0 Hunts Senior Cup final defeat against St Neots at Jubilee Park on Monday.

“I think it would be fair to say that we were the better side for the majority of the game,” he said.

“The lads played really well, were the better team and had a couple of really unlucky moments - hitting the woodwork or having chances cleared off the line.

“Lee Ellison and Morgan Phillips were controlling things and, although we didn’t manage to score, it hurts as we felt a couple of real key decisions didn’t really go our way.

“It looked as though we had a nailed on penalty ten minutes before half time when Ellison was brought down [by Glen Fuff].

“It just wasn’t our day – particularly in front of goal – but the players can be very proud of their efforts and they didn’t deserve to be on the losing side in my opinion.”

Hall and fellow boss Warren Everdell will now look to pick their players up ahead of their final game of the season on Saturday – the UCL League Cup final against Peterborough Northern Star at Raunds Town FC.

The only doubt for the match is striker Conor Washington, after he was forced off during the game against Neots following a nasty collision with Will Fordham.

And Hall is confident his side can retain the trophy they won last season, saying: “If we play like we did against St Neots then I think we’ve got every chance.

“I really do rate Peterborough Northern Star as I think they’ve been one of the best teams we’ve seen this season.

“They will cause us problems but, hopefully, we’ll also do like wise with them.”