Roberts hat-trick was not enough to save Hemel Hempstead Town as they crashed out of the SL Cup to lower league Dunstable on Tuesday.
In a cup thriller at Vauxhall Road, Chris Wales added to Roberts' treble with a goal in extra time to make it 4-4 after 120 minutes.
But the men in red lost the resulting penalty shootout 5-4, David Deeney missing the crucial spot kick.
"We've
only got ourselves to blame really," said manager Steve Bateman. "It was as poor a defensive performance as I have seen for a long while. We were all over the place.
"We've created chances and could have killed the game off in the first 15 minutes. We were like a cat with a mouse - playing with it instead of putting it to the sword."
The defeat was the second time the Tudors have been knocked out of a cup competition on penalties, having been beaten by Bishops Stortford at home in the Herts Senior Cup last month.
Hemel will try to improve on their recent cup record on Saturday when they travel to Forest Green in the FA Trophy 1st round proper.
The defeat came just three days after the Tudors' first home league win since mid August.
CLICK HERE to read a full report of that game.
The full article contains 224 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
