Badshot Lea manager Gavin Smith admitted he was disappointed with his side’s performance after they suffered penalty shoot-out heartbreak in the Aldershot Senior Cup final.

The Baggies drew 1-1 against fellow Isthmian League South Central Division outfit Westfield in the showpiece match at National League Aldershot Town’s EBB Stadium, before losing 4-3 on penalties.

Josh Keeya’s 31st-minute penalty had given Smith’s side the lead, but Westfield skipper Andy Crossley’s 36th-minute equaliser direct from a corner took the tie to spot kicks. Lamin Ceesay missed the decisive penalty when his effort was saved by Westfield keeper Sonny Wheeler.

“I thought the game was poor to be honest,” said Smith. “I was disappointed. You don't want to lose a cup final but I'm more disappointed with the performance we put in because the lads have let themselves down. I was hoping they could show what they're about but it didn't happen. The players couldn't pass five yards on an unbelievable pitch. I don't think it's a case that they got nervous. I think some of them got a little bit overconfident and tried stupid passes that we tell them not to do.

“I thought we were slightly better than them (Westfield) in the second half without being good. They looked to hit us on the break. Going forward was our downfall. We got in some good areas and didn't take advantage of them. We picked the wrong pass. There was a lack of quality in the final third. We had three efforts cleared off the line in the last minute and could have won it. I was waiting for it to go in the back of the net but they kept getting something on it. It could have been different but we didn't deserve to win the game. I don't think they did either, so penalties was probably a reflection of what happened. They won the lottery of penalties.”

Badshot Lea finished in 11th place in the Isthmian League South Central Division as they enjoyed a solid campaign after last season’s promotion from the Combined Counties Premier Division South, although Smith admitted he was hoping for slightly better.

“We're a little bit disappointed with where we finished,” said Smith. “I felt if we hadn't had that run of seven games in 12 days we probably would have picked up a few more points. A fair reflection probably would have been ninth – we were hoping for ninth. We competed with every team above us. It's a good effort considering where we were at the start of pre-season. We'd lost a lot of players, had to get a lot of players in and were probably about four weeks behind everyone else in terms of getting a squad together to implement what we want. We've played some good football. We've competed with every team in the league. I didn't think there was anyone that was head and shoulders above us when we played them, so that's a positive. We need to take it on now and make some improvements. We’ll look to better that next year and try to close the gap in points between where we finished this year and the play-offs.”

The Baggies will enjoy a break before returning for pre-season, and Smith is hoping to keep the majority of this season’s squad at the club.

“They'll be plenty of time to have a break and we'll catch up with all the players soon,” said Smith. “I'm hoping we will keep the majority of the players. I'm sure they're going to get offers from other teams, but that happens every year. I'd like to keep a good core of players. We haven't managed to do that for the past two or three years – it's always a constant change but we're a small club. People come in and offer people money and I don't blame them for leaving. We've got to look at opportunities for young players to play football. It's not about the money. Do they want to come for the right reasons? Hopefully they do. Hopefully we can keep these boys and it will be a good platform to build on next year. We want a good pre-season.”