THE Motormen missed out on a money-spinning trip to Telford and £3,000 prize money last night as they were dumped out of the FA Trophy at Rivacre Park by Alfreton.
But despite the result, there were many pluses for the Motormen on this occasion. Manager Owen Brown remained positive.
He said: 'Ultimately, we are disappointed, but I can't fault the lads for their effort and application.
'We've got to become more street-savvy and close games off and do what we're doing in shorter spells over the entire 90 minutes.
'Alfreton might be doing better than us at the moment, but I've got a good young side here and while they might be effective with long-ball tactics, I don't think any of their players would get into our team.
'You could certainly say that their penalty was the turning point. It was difficult to see, but from my position it seemed to strike the lad under the arm - but it was just one of those nights.'
Alfreton may have turned up late from Derbyshire, resulting in a 20-minute delay to the kick-off, but they were quickest out of the blocks, taking the lead in the seventh minute.
Craig Robinson's attempted clearance struck visiting striker Michael Godber and he shrugged off the Vauxhall defender before slotting the ball past Kinsella from the edge of the box.
The home side restored parity nine minutes later when Robbie Lawton was tripped by Ian Robinson in the penalty area and Peter Cumiskey sent the resultant spot-kick low to keeper Lee Butler's right.
Vauxhall went ahead 12 minutes into the second half, with Cumiskey again the scorer as he latched on to Robinson's searching ball upfield before rounding Butler and side-footing home.
The visitors were handed a life-line on 69 minutes when Carl Spell-man was adjudged to have handled the ball and substitute John Knapper sent Kinsella the wrong way from the penalty spot.
Just as it looked like the crowd was in for an even longer evening, Alfreton fashioned a goal out of nothing as Godber squeezed the ball past Kinsella at the near post from Robinson's low cross from the right wing.
With the Motormen pushing forward for an equaliser, visiting substitute Michael Goddard struck the killer blow, thumping past Kinsella in the last minute.
Vauxhall: Kinsella, Spellman, McDermott, Robinson, McAuley, Lynch, Nesbitt, Lawton, Fearns, Robertson (Macauley 78), Cumiskey. The Motormen return to league action on Saturday as they host Hucknall Town.
