DARREN Perrin said his side only had themselves to blame as they crashed out of the FA Cup to Cowes Sports.

Having been 2-0 up, courtesy of an own goal and a Gary Higdon header,with 10 minutes left on the clock in the home tie on Saturday, Melksham appeared to have one foot in the next round.

However, a strike deep into added time earned the visitors a draw to give Perrin’s side the unenviable trip to the Isle of Wight on Tuesday evening.

Cowes opened the scoring, before a penalty pulled the visitors back level.

The hosts took the lead on the half-hour mark from the spot and wrapped up the win in the closing moments.

“We have only got ourselves to blame because we should have won by six or seven goals on Saturday,” said Perrin.

“To be 2-0 up with nine minutes to go and to throw it away was criminal.

“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves, because we were our own worst enemies.

“On Tuesday, we played well and they were hanging on before they scored an unbelievable third goal.”

Perrin now turns his focus to the league as Melksham face Odd Down on Saturday.

“We are playing against I side that I think will be there challenging for the league.”