FA Trophy success can spur Bognor Regis Town on to Isthmian wins
Jamie Howell wants his Rocks charges to use the FA Trophy victory over Sevenoaks Town to as a springboard to bigger and better things for the rest of the Isthmian South Central division campaign.
Rocks grabbed a dramatic 8-7 penalties triumph over the visitors after being 2-0 down and coming back to 2-2 in the 90 minutes. Quite how the home side didn't win in normal time is perplexing given the chances they created but they couldn't find a way past impressive keeper Jordan Perrin to snatch the lead.
Sevenoaks cashed in on defensive frailties in the first half to take a 2-0 lead through goals from Warren Mfula and Dan Duncanson before Nick Dembele made it 2-1 at the break. MoM Seok-Jae Lee levelled matters in the second half.
And so it went to spot-kicks and it fell to Joe Alman to hit the decisive penalty to give Howell's men their first win at their temporary home at Chichester City's Oaklands Park.
Boss Howell, partnered in the dugout by new No2 Paul Hinshelwood for the first time since the departure of Michael Birmingham, was happy to navigate passage through to the second qualifying round that sees them go to Westfield – who play in the same division as the Rocks – on September 20.
He said: "We were delighted to get through and it was a really good performance. I thought we were unlucky to be 2-0 down and controlled large parts of the game and showed great character to come back.
"Even had we lost on penalties it is important that you don't let the result detract from the performance and there are loads of positives to be taken forward to rest of the season -- if we continue to perform like that then we will win games this season...it's a good springboard."
Now attention turns to Saturday's league trip to Raynes Park Vale, managed by Howell's old pal Hayden Bird. And he added: "Hayden has a good team there who play good football so we need to be prepared for them in the right way and hopefully get a result there."