PHIL Parkinson was left ruing a missed opportunity after Altrincham failed to capitalise on a dominant first-half performance and bowed out of the FA Cup at Edgeley Park on Saturday.

Despite being camped in their opponents’ half for 40 minutes, Alty could not find a way through and were up against it when Stockport County went in front from their first scoring opportunity just before half time.

A second goal late on booked County’s place in the first round proper, much to the frustration of Alty boss Parkinson, who said: "When you are playing as well as we were in the first half, you have to make it count.

"We absolutely dominated them and should have scored, but when they went ahead against the run of play, you could feel it was going to work in their favour.

"It knocked the wind out of our sails, and it was hard to go again after that and perform to the same level.

"That was still the big disappointment, though, not getting anywhere near the heights we reached in the first half.

"We spurned some good chances, and when that happens you are always susceptible to a sucker punch."

A storming performance from full-back Andy White and remarkable turnout of 652 travelling Alty fans were the two bright spots for Parkinson, whose side returns to league action at home to Ashton United on Saturday.

"Andy was outstanding," he said. "Everyone is seeing this season what he is about.

"He is a top full-back, and that is why I fought so hard to get him to this club.

"He was brilliant for me at Nantwich, and he will be a brilliant player for Altrincham.

"I can’t praise our supporters enough – talk about travelling in numbers.

"That’s an away support that would be the envy of clubs at a higher level than us, and once again they did their level best to make it feel like a home game for us.

"They were brilliant and I’m just sorry we couldn’t give them the result they deserved.

"We are all devastated, but congratulations Stockport and we wish them all the best in the next round."