Victorious Southam suffer late knockout

Saints fielded 12 players on Saturday who were ineligible for the competition, having already played in this season’s FA Cup extra preliminary qualifying round defeat by Eccleshall.

With no reserve team to call on, Saints would have had to field the bulk of their youth team to remain within the rules.

Hill said: “During the course of Monday, it became apparent that the club inadvertently contravened the rules of the Coventry Charity Cup by playing players in Saturday’s first- round match against Stockton who had played in the FA Cup.

“Once this became known, and the situation clarified, I contacted the Charity Cup committee and withdrew the club from the competition.

“The blame for this misinterpretation of the rules lies fairly and squarely with me and I wish to apologise to all those affected by this, especially our supporters who will be disappointed following the thrilling comeback victory on the field of play.”

Stockton boss Barry Shearsby said: “It seems unbelievable that the cup committee allowed the match to go ahead knowing Southam had played in FA competitions and I feel sorry for Luke [Fogarty] and the players who thought they had gone through.

“We haven’t heard anything officially yet but, if we are reinstated, we will try to keep the local flag flying.”

l Match report - page 79