Mark Stimson admitted he took great pride from his Barnet side's performance against Charlton Athletic on Tuesday night, but he could not hide his disappointment at being knocked out of the FA Cup by a single goal, writes Ross Davies.

That the Bees boss - in charge of the team sitting at the bottom of the Football League – should feel aggrieved not to have at least taken the Addicks – second in League One – to extra-time on their own turf said everything about the visitors' display.

Barnet were superb at the Valley in this first-round replay after a goalless draw at Underhill, and for much of the game it was the visitors that many neutral observers would have thought sat 46 places above the side in red.

The Bees carved out a number of gilt-edged chances, with Steve Kabba and Mark Marshall usually at the heart of the action, although it was an error from Joe Devera that gifted Charlton their winner.

Kyel Reid picked the pocket of the defender, who was filling in at left-back, on 19 minutes before bursting into the box and firing a shot past Jake Cole that kissed the near post.

Thereafter it was virtually all Barnet, with Rossi Jarvis missing perhaps the best chance of the game when he was denied by the excellent Rob Elliot in the hosts' goal, having been cleverly put through by Kabba.

The big striker also had a golden opportunity to take the game into extra time but, when it seemed as if all he had to do was slide the ball into the net from ten yards, out came Elliot from nowhere to deny him.

A downbeat Stimson said afterwards: “We've come here and put a performance on that I'm very proud of. Obviously I'm very upset because we didn't go through. And I think if we didn't bump into such a good goalkeeper tonight we would still be out there playing extra time.

“When I wake up in the morning it (the performance) will probably give me a lot of satisfaction, but at the moment I'm frustrated because we're not still playing.”

Stimson believes shoots of recovery are starting to appear at Underhill, the manager citing the return of Kabba and centre-back Grant Basey as sources of recent improvement.

Izale McLeod also made his first appearance as a late substitute.

Stimson believes the team are on the up, but they will have to raise their game to similar levels when their noses return to the grindstone on Saturday, when the Bees welcome Northampton Town for a crucial League Two clash.

“We're slowly getting there - how I want the team to play,” added Stimson. “We're still not 100 per cent on it because we're not turning those chances into goals.

“The bigger picture looks quite bright but we need to make sure we get some league points.”