Invicta boss Neil Cugley has apologised to fans for his side’s performance in Saturday’s big FA Cup tie at Slough, saying: “I felt the occasion seemed to too much for some of them (the players).

“They were obviously very disappointed that they had let themselves and our brilliant fans down.

“We’ve beaten better sides than Slough – like Staines and Hendon. At 1-0 we always had a chance of course, but we can’t really complain about the result.”

Folkestone were bidding to make the First Round Proper for only the second time in club history after getting that far in season 2005/6 when they were beaten by then Football side Chester City after a memorable 2-0 victory over Aylesbury United in the final qualifying round – we should say, a far stronger Aylesbury side that which Invicta beat in the third qualifying round this time.

“When you look at the side we had then, with the likes of Adam Flanagan, Paul Lamb, Steve Norman, they had far more experience than most of the players we’ve got now. For most of the team we put out on Saturday it was the biggest game they’ve ever played in. We’ve got some really good players in the squad now and it’s disappointing that they didn’t do themselves justice.

“But we have to put that behind us and move on.”

The manager singled out centre-half and captain Callum Davies for praise and said: “I thought he was different class on Saturday, probably the best player on the park.”

And there was some sympathy for wingback Kieron McCann, whose two yellow cards in as many minutes saw him see red and his dismissal by referee David Spain nine minutes from time.

Cugs said: “I’ve said enough about referees lately, but, technically the referee was right I guess. We all thought Kieron  had been shoved over and that we’d got a free-kick, so it was his natural reaction to try to pick the ball up and he’s ended up with a red card.”

Crowd favourite McCann now misses this coming weekend’s league game at Leiston but can play at home against Leatherhead tonight (Tuesday).