Farnham Town assistant manager Jimmy Hibburt admitted he was gutted after his side lost 1-0 against South Park (Reigate) in the Surrey Senior Cup final.

Sam King’s 58th-minute goal proved to be the difference between the teams.

“It’s gutting,” said Hibburt. “It’s a hard one to take. The boys are flat on their feet with disappointment. I thought we started the game a little bit nervy – the occasion maybe got to us for the first ten to 15 minutes. I tried to explain to the boys at half-time the more you go up the divisions you play against better players. We've been gifted so much this season with dictating the ball and having a lot of ball possession. We had to work hard and I think it shocked a few of the boys the level of effort that's needed as you creep up the divisions. We showed a little bit of immaturity for the first 15 to 20 minutes. Then we got to grips with it and changed the shape to match theirs. We slowly grew into the game and approaching the second half I thought it was all us in terms of chances. Then we gifted them a mistake. Unfortunately there was a sloppy ball into Brandon Kalu, Brandon couldn't quite sort his feet out and they caught us. Pat Nash is gutted. He thought he could have done a little bit more but that's being a little bit harsh on him I think.”

Despite the defeat Farnham still achieved their main goal this season of winning the Combined Counties Premier Division South title, and Hibburt said everyone should be proud of their efforts.

“It's mixed emotions,” said Hibburt. “We're all super proud of this year. It wasn't meant to be for the final but it highlights what's expected next season in terms of where we're at. It's not been ideal preparation in terms of the games we've had, losing Shamal Edwards late and Adam Liddle going. You've got two players there that could have come on and made an impact – but we were extremely light on the bench. Michael Kinsella has only come back to full fitness recently. Tom Smith is the same, so it was only Kai Tanner to use. Max Meaton was a no go but we put him on the bench, so in terms of what we could bring on to freshen it up we didn't really have that. That showed a little bit. We would have probably made a couple more changes in terms of fresh legs but we were sitting there with two defenders. Our hands were tied a little bit so it was unfortunate. Once we get this out of our system this season is something we need to be proud of.”

Town will join South Park at Step 4 next season, and Hibburt admitted the final was a good taste of what Farnham will face next season.

“I know this is a cup final and players probably get up for it a little bit more but as you go up the divisions you're going to come up against better players and better teams,” said Hibburt. “You're going to go through periods where you don't get to touch the ball or it's not quite working for you. That's where you stick together as a unit and work hard. I thought that first half was a little bit disappointing in that we were pointing fingers a little bit and that's not what we're about, but we'll learn from it. We'll get stronger from it and hopefully push on next season.

“I think there was only one team scoring in the second half and in terms of creating we pushed and pushed. It was all a little bit huff and puff. We lacked that little bit of quality in front of goal – any other day two or three go in. With Charlie Postance's chance at the end anything on target goes in. It wasn't meant to be. I can't fault the boys' effort – it was constant. That's been like that all season. When the dust settles we'll learn from it and we'll look back and be very proud of what we've done this year.”