A sombre Somerset Eagles coach Kenny Thompson hailed his team's spirit in their heartbreaking FA Cup penalty shootout loss to Devonshire Cougars yesterday.

New boys Eagles, who are in their first year back in the top flight since winning the First Division last term, were leading 2-0 midway through the second half before Cougars mounted a comeback to draw level and then snatched the Cup in penalties.

Thompson was pleased with the performance and the effort put in by his troops, many of whom had battled for 120 minutes.

"I am very proud of the team," said Thompson. "They played well and gave their all under intense pressure in the first half.

"We found the strength to get two goals at the end of the first half but at the break we talked about the match not being over and we had a lot more work to do.

"Obviously we were very close but they are a quality team, we knew it would go down to the end, we took it to the end and it is a disappointing way to lose a match on penalties.

"But my hat goes off to Cougars.

One could turn to the injury of Antwan Russell as the turning point in the match, when he had to be carried off as he was causing the most problems to Cougars, and Thompson acknowledged the performance of his striker.

However, not to take away from the overall achievements of the team, the boss was happy with his side's first season back in the top flight and is hopeful next year can be just as, if not more rewarding to the players and fans.

"I was hoping to make the sub a bit earlier to make Antwan the striker because he has the quality and the pace to get across defenders and at that point we were hoping to use him on the counter but he got injured – hopefully it isn't a serious injury but it was a blow to us.

"We are happy with our performance, we had the goal to stay up and at the end we were pushing for a top three or four position.

"We ended up in sixth position, and in the FA Cup final which was also a bonus and going into a final like that you are looking to win it.

"So overall we are happy with the season. But to get to the final and lose is disappointing but I am happy for the club."