Ian Chapman: ‘We did ourselves proud, but maybe we missed the boat a little’

The Hillians pushed their Conference Premier counterparts all the way and it was a only a last minute goal that saw the visitor’s win 2-1 at The Green Elephants Stadium.

Chapman told the Mid Sussex Times: “We are not disappointed because I think we did ourselves proud. It was a really good effort but maybe we missed the boat a little bit.

“We were in their area with three minutes to go and we’ve gone for goal which is probably right but we could have gone for the corner and we would still be in the cup. But they’ve cleared the ball and gone up the other end and scored.

“As much as we are proud of everything the players have done, there is a little bit of disappointment. But it’s done now and we move on. They’ve had a fantastic cup run and put the club on the map in this competition and the FA Cup this year which is brilliant.

“We’ve had 1,000 people come through the gate and hopefully few of them will come back and we can keep moving the club forward because that’s what it’s all about - the club progessing.

“Somebody said to me that they couldn’t tell there was a difference in the standard the two clubs play at and that is testament to the players. It’s up to us, and the players more so, to take that on board to realise that we can up our standards even though we have had this unbelievable start.

“If we play like that we will be a match for anyone and we know that. Most times this season we can’t fault the players at all and now we must stand up another gear and just try and get as many points on the board as we can and see where it takes us.”

Burgess Hill now face Margate on Tuesday night in the League Cup.

“Because of the magnitude of the Dartford game, we will have to make a few changes. It’s another free one for us because they are top of their league and we will just go their and have a proper go and enjoy the game.

“Our biggest focus now is away next Saturday at East Grinstead and we will put a side out Tuesday with that in mind.

“We still want to go and do well at Margate but at the same time will will have one eye on the league game Saturday.”

Even though the Hillians have been on an ioncredible run, performances have slipped recently, but Chapman has been delighted with the performances in the last two game against Folkestone and Dartford.

He said: “Up until recently, we haven’t been poor - we’ve been beating teams - I have felt the last two games we have been more like ourselves. The games before that we have got results but more on resilience and determination. The last two games we have really stepped up and showed a bit of class on top of that.”