March Town were dumped out of the FA Vase by Peterborough Northern Star for the second successive season - but boss Brett Whaley took plenty of positives from a second qualifying round defeat.

The 10-man Hares – who had striker Toby Allen sent off for collecting two cautions in the first half - were undone by a late goal when being beaten 1-0 by their higher-level hosts last Saturday.

Goalkeeper Simon Dalton then conceded and saved a penalty in the dying moments as March bowed out with their heads held high.

Whaley said: “It certainly didn’t look like there was a level between the two teams and it was often difficult to tell we had a man less for around 65 minutes of the game as well.

“It’s always gutting to be beaten by a late goal, but we can take lots of encouragement from our performance.

“I demanded a reaction from the players after a really poor second half in our previous league game – and that’s exactly what they gave me.

“It was obviously a shame to see Toby sent off, but it was naïve rather than malicious. It’s all part of the learning process for young players.”

March switch their focus to climbing the Thurlow Nunn League First Division North standings tomorrow.

They appear to have a golden opportunity to claim only a second league win of the campaign when hosting rock-bottom Felixstowe & Walton United at the GER, 3pm.

The Suffolk side have lost all eight of their First Division North fixtures, but Whaley has warned his men against complacency.

He added: “We feel our performances this season deserve a lot more points than we have actually picked up.

“But we can’t afford to dwell on the games that have already gone. We need to focus on going on a good run and hopefully that can start tomorrow.

“We need to make sure our performance is at the same level as it was in the FA Vase last weekend.”