Tony Burman did not think his side deserved to lose after Dartford were beaten 2-1 by Whitehawk in the third qualifying round of the FA Trophy on Saturday.

Both sides enjoyed spells of pressure in the first half at Princes Park, but the deadlock was not broken until 75 minutes when Sam Deering slotted a penalty past Dartford’s Deren Ibrahim.

The home side reacted well to going behind and drew level just three minutes later when Ryan Hayes' corner was met with a goalmouth scramble which saw the ball turned into the net by a Whitehawk defender.

However, the visitors were sent through to the first round of the FA Trophy when Danny Stevens slotted home from the edge of the area.

“I don't think we deserved to lose the game to be perfectly honest,” Burman said.

“Whitehawk are a good passing side and I think we stopped that happening for the majority of the game.

MORE: Addicks ace admits protesting fans not helping team

“I thought we could have gone on and won the game when we got the goal back.

“They have not got slaughtered by any means. The game was fairly even and I do not think we deserved to lose.”

Burman admitted Mark Onyemah, who gave away Whitehawk’s penalty, had an off day but backed the defender to bounce back from his performance.

“He’s more than strong enough to cope with it,” he said. “He has been outstanding for us since he has been here.

“I think he should have done better when he got closed down and he should have cleared it.”

Burman, 57, suggested his side struggled in the first half because of the two week break his side had had prior to the fixture.

MORE: West Ham legend backs Charlton new boy to be a success - exclusive

The Princes Park chief added: “We said during half-time that we looked like a team that had had two weeks off because we felt we were in third gear but that we did not quite get into fourth and fifth.

“I think we put a lot of work into stopping Whitehawk passing the ball around like they can do. I thought we came out quite brightly in the second half, wanting to have a go, but it was not to be.

“It is one of those things. It is very disappointing to go out of the cup.

“We have to focus on the league. We have got to get back on track.”

Burman’s Dartford will be hoping to get back to winning ways on Saturday when they host Havant and Waterlooville.

Follow us on Twitter @NewsShopperSprt