The FA Vase is a competition that I want to do well in, says FA Cup giant-killer Micky Collins

SEVENOAKS TOWN manager Micky Collins says his main focus is now on Saturday’s clash against Crawley Down Gatwick.

The Oaks celebrated their biggest ever night in their 133-year-history last night by pulling off a FA Cup giantkilling, coming from behind to beat Lewes 2-1 in front of 280 fans at Greatness Park last night.

Lewes took the lead through Jamie Brotherton’s close-range finish but Harrison Carnegie levelled within two minutes and central defender Jack Miles showed he can compete at a higher level of football by capping off an outstanding performance by scoring a dramatic winner with five minutes from the end with a looping header.



OUTSTANDING: Sevenoaks Town defender Jack Miles (number 5) caps off an outstanding performance by scoring the winner against Lewes in The FA Cup First Qualifying Round Replay at Greatness Park last night.
Photo: David Couldridge

It was the second Ryman League Division One South club that Sevenoaks Town have beaten in their longest FA Cup run and they welcome Evo-Stick Southern Premier League side Chesham United in the Second Qualifying Round on Saturday 17 September.

“That was our Cup Final last night but what we have to do, we’ve got to be competitive in the game against Chesham. We have to be because we owe it to our fans and we owe it to the Cup,” said Collins.

Collins’ attention now turns to The Buildbase FA Vase First Qualifying Round tie against Crawley Down Gatwick on Saturday.

Collins and his wife Louise watched the Southern Combination Premier Division clash between Crawley Down Gatwick and Shoreham on Tuesday night, which Shoreham won 5-0.

They are in the bottom six in the table, having collected four points from their opening six games, while FA Cup giantkillers Sevenoaks Town are in fourteenth-place in the Southern Counties East Football League table with six points from three games.

“We went to watch them on Tuesday night, you know me I always pay people respect,” said Collins.

“I owe it to my guys to give them as much information as I can. We’ll have to pick ourselves up and get over last night and we go again.

“The FA Vase is a competition I want to do well in. We’ll go strong on Saturday, look to get a win and get in to the next round in that.”

Many teams always let their next game slip when they have a bigger FA Cup tie on the horizon – but Collins insists his players will remain focused for Saturday’s clash against Crawley Down Gatwick.

He said: “One game at a time. We don’t think about The FA Cup.

“There’s a lot of people that laugh at this club and they look at it and call us Sevenjokes. Well, let me tell you, the jokes on them.”

Sevenoaks Town have scooped £6,425 in FA prize money so far and Collins said: “Plus the gate. We had great gate money from Lewes on Saturday, I think we got £1,500 out of that so what we’ve taken last night as well, we’re probably in excess of eight and a half thousand pounds, which is great and we’ve got another home game (against Chesham United) so hopefully we’ll pack it out here and get a big crowd on the 17^th and do the business.”

Collins admitted that last night’s FA Cup giant-killing goes down as the best in his managerial career.

“As a manager, forget the playing days there long over, as a manager it’s up there,” he said.

“The night we won the league with Erith & Belvedere (in 2013) was a big night and winning the double with them was an amazing achievement and I had a big FA Cup night with them when we went to Gosport (in 2010) and drew 0-0 down there with a put together side and brought them back and beat them on a Tuesday night at Park View Road 2-1 -  that was a big night.

“Erith & Belvedere are a bigger club, Sevenoaks aren’t that so big club and to do what we’ve done with Sevenoaks in the time we’ve done here is just phenomenal and it’s exciting for me and I’m enjoying it.”

Visit Sevenoaks Town’s website:  www.sevenoakstownfc.co.uk

Sevenoaks Town  v  Crawley Down Gatwick
The Buildbase FA Vase First Qualifying Round
Saturday 10^th September 2016
Kick Off 3:00pm
At Greatness Park, Mill Lane, Seal Road, Sevenoaks, Kent TN14 5BA