A BELOW-PAR Earlswood Town suffered a 1-0 home defeat against Bealonians in the Amateur Football Alliance Senior Cup.
The only goal came on 37 minutes when Dan Armstrong found the net as the Earls suffered an early exit from the competition at The Pavilions.
Earlswood were taking part in the competition for the first time with the tournament largely made up of teams from the South East and Home Counties.
The Earls received walkover wins in the first two rounds and came into the fixture off the back of a three-game unbeaten run in the league.
Amateur Football Combination Premier Division side Bealonians almost took the lead following a goalmouth scramble.
And the visitors eventually broke the deadlock when Armstrong slipped between a sliding John Palmer and onrushing Ethan Pheasey to score.
The Earls searched for an equaliser as Dan Elwell hit the post with a curling effort from distance while Vincent Record headed narrowly wide as the home side failed to draw level before the final whistle.
Earlswood travel to Central Ajax in the quarter-finals of the Les James Challenge Cup on Saturday, February 3 with kick-off at 2.15pm at Ajax Park.
