We are really gutted to go out of The FA Cup on penalties away from home against higher league opposition, says Deal Town coach Steve King

DEAL TOWN coach Steve King says he feels really gutted having been knocked out of The FA Cup by a penalty shoot-out.

Kane Smith gave Deal the lead in the final 15 minutes in their First Qualifying Round tie at Chipstead but the Isthmian League South Central hosts equalised through Callum McAlister inside the final three minutes to take the game to penalties.

Chipstead sealed their progress by holding their nerve from the spot, winning 4-2.

“We were really gutted to go out of The FA Cup on penalties away from home against higher league opposition,” said King.

“Having been under pressure for the first 20 minutes of the game, we grew into the contest and were the better side in the second half.

“We missed a penalty at 0-0 and then took the lead with 15 minutes left before unfortunately conceding a late equaliser.

“Obviously in every other year that would have meant a home replay, which we would have really looked forward to. Unfortunately, this year it went straight to penalties and we came out on the wrong side of the shoot-out.

“We were really pleased with the overall performance and spirit amongst the squad as they all did the club proud on the evening.

“As always, a big thank you to all of our fans who travelled to Chipstead to support us on Tuesday evening.  We are hoping for another good crowd tomorrow and look forward to welcoming everyone to the Charles Ground.”

Deal Town welcome Punjab United to The Charles Sports Ground tomorrow.

Chipie Sian’s side are in ninth-place in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division table with a 50% record from their opening four league games.

Deal Town, meanwhile, are in fourteenth-place with three points from their opening three league outings.

“We are expecting another tough game tomorrow against a Punjab side who have made a decent start to the season,” said King.

“They have plenty of quality and experience in their squad and will pose a real test tomorrow.

“They were unfortunate to lose last week against Tunbridge Wells, who have started the season well, so we are in no doubt about the task at hand.

“Having said that, we have been playing very well and have put in six good performances so we are confident that if we can get to the levels we have reached so far, we will have a good chance of picking up three points.

“We have been really pleased with the performances in our six games so far and feel we have certainly developed further as a side.

“We are looking a threat going forward and our defensive unit has looked very solid.

“It is frustrating that we have lost two league games against Beckenham and Sheppey and we’ll be looking to put together a run of results over the coming weeks.

“We feel we have built a squad that can compete with any team in the division on our day and will now be striving for the level of consistency required.”

Visit Deal Town’s website:  www.dealtownfc.co.uk

Deal Town  v  Punjab United
Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division
Saturday 26 September 2020
Kick Off 3:00pm
At The Charles Sports Ground, St Leonards Road, Deal, Kent CT14 9AU