They were beaten 2-0 by the South West League in St Blazey, Cornwall.
The South West side scored twice within ten minutes in the first half and Combination manager Kevin MacCarthy described them both as ‘soft goals.’ He added: ‘They were both goals which should have been prevented.
We were a little slow to react.’ But he exempted young St Paul’s ‘keeper Danny Evans from any blame.
‘He put in a good performance – he wasn’t at fault for either of the goals,’ said MacCarthy.
The goals came in the 25th and 35th minutes – both from crosses – and put the Combination side on the back foot.
‘Going in 2-0 down was tough,’ added MacCarthy.
‘But in the second half we played better.
We snatched at a couple of chances in the first five minutes of the second half and then, five minutes from the end, Toni Cardoso had a flying header just over the bar after the best move of the match.
If that had gone in who knows what might have happened.
‘We were all desperately disappointed but over the 90 minutes they deserved to win it.’
