AFC Sudbury joint-manager Angelo Harrop urged his players to be proud of what they achieved after their 4-0 defeat to League Two Colchester in the FA Cup.

The eighth-tier club won five matches to reach the first round proper, but their fairytale run was ended by goals from Brendan Wiredu, Freddie Sears, Sylvester Jasper and Shawn McCoulsky.

But the Suffolk side’s progress in the cup competition has secured the club financially until at least the end of next season.

“We need to be proud now and we need to kick on, in the league,” said Harrop.

“On around 89 minutes, I said to (fellow joint manager) Rick (Andrews), ‘have a look around and look what we’ve created’.

“If you’d seen what we came into and what we’ve achieved now, it’s incredible.

“For this football club now, financially they will be secure especially after Covid and all of the problems with that.”

The U’s were understandably heavy favourites heading into the contest against the Isthmian League North Division outfit.

But boss Hayden Mullins hailed the professionalism of his charges as they avoided “a potential banana skin”.

He said: “The job from start to finish I thought was a good professional one.

“I asked the boys to respect the opposition, to give us a professional performance and it was a potential banana skin.

“The atmosphere was fantastic and if you let the home team get a head of steam, I think it could be a difficult evening.

“I thought the boys did really well and carved out quite a lot of chances and on another day, if you’re not focused, you can let it slip and they can get in the back door.”