“IT’S really hard to take for the lads who have given absolutely everything and been the better side.”

So said Joe Connor as a last-gasp free kick saw Newcastle Benfield end 10-man Pickering Town’s Isuzu FA Vase hopes at the first hurdle at Mill Lane on Friday evening.

Pickering, a man light after Harry Lovick’s controversial red card during the first half, held a 2-1 lead until the final 10 minutes, but the visitors turned the game on its head to seal a 3-2 victory at the death.

Speaking to the club, goalkeeping coach Connor, who played over 230 times for the Pikes across three spells, admitted: “It’s a really, really difficult [result to take].

“We played with 10 men for 70 minutes and got in front in the second half 2-1, and then they’ve got back into it. Then it’s a last-minute free kick from a really poor decision, and to be fair, the lad has put it in the top corner.

“But it’s really hard to take, and it’s really hard to take for the lads who have given absolutely everything and have been the better side all game but played with 10 men for 70 minutes.

“We said to them at the end that they can walk out of that changing room with their heads held very high. They’ve been the better side, they did exactly what we’ve been telling them to do, and they’ve been progressing week on week.

“We’ve played a couple of teams from the North East and struggled a little bit, but tonight, anyone that’s been here to watch will know that they are a good side and that we’ve got some really good players who are developing really well and doing as we are asking.

“There’s some really disappointed lads in there.”

Pickering had started brightly in front of a healthy home crowd, volleying wide before a near-post header crashed off the corner of the crossbar and post and rebounded away to safety.

But a penalty to Newcastle on the half-hour saw Andre Bennett fire past Alfie Burnett to break the deadlock from 12 yards, and things soon went from bad to worse for the Pikes when Lovick was dismissed for a tackle that many supporters felt was a yellow card at best.

Tony Hackworth’s side though rallied, finding a controversial equaliser on the stroke of half time through Joe Wood.

Even though the forward was in an offside position as he raced onto Jamie Thornton’s through ball before rounding the goalkeeper to score, the referee ruled that the ball had come back off a Benfield defender and the goal stood.

Level at the break, Nathan Dyer fired Pickering in front on 55 minutes with a thunderous effort into the roof of the net, but the visitors came back strongly.

Noah Millington’s free kick hit the woodwork before Burnett made a stunning save, but the shot-stopper could do nothing to prevent Glen Hargrave from powerfully heading home Callum Guy’s cross with 10 minutes left to play.

It seemed as though the tie would be settled by penalties, but the referee had other ideas, with what appeared to have been a well-timed challenge by Harley Dawson in the tenth minute of stoppage time instead ruled a free kick.

Millington stepped up, curling a sublime strike over the wall and into the top left corner to seal victory as his side’s bench ploughed onto the pitch, but a red card brandished in the aftermath did little to dampen their spirits.

Pickering return to NCEL Premier Division action this evening against high-flying Hallam at Mill Lane (7:45pm).