Met Police striker Dave Knight said the team just played their normal football in the face of the cruel bridge too far to the Ryman Premier League play-offs.

On the final day of the season, Met needed to win at Thurrock and hope East Thurrock lost at Whitehawk.

Jim Cooper’s men got their wish, beating Thurrock 4-0 and learning that East Thurrock lost 1-0, but the latter’s far superior goal difference meant it was always going to count for nothing.

Met, for whom Knight scored twice at Thurrock to bring his season’s tally to 13, finished level on points with fifth-placed East Thurrock, but had to settle for sixth and no play-off finale.

Knight said: “We needed a goal swing of about 15, so it was always going to be too much. We just did what we do, played our football and enjoyed the game.”

Three defeats in the last 10 games had Met in the top five before East Thurrock’s games in hand took their toll.

Met’s good run coincided with Cooper reading the riot act after a run of four games without a win in March.

Knight said: “Jim does not mix his words, and he puts so much into the club it is understandable that he gets angry if he feels he is not getting the same back.”

The 22-year-old added: “But I’m pleased with my season, and I’d like to stay and help Jim push for promotion next year.”