Sittingbourne go into this weekend’s Isuzu FA Trophy tie with Isthmian Premier League Bognor Regis Town at the Staxson Stadium, Woodstock, with boss Ryan Maxwell hoping that his side respond to their FA Cup defeat in the same manner as Tuesday’s 2-0 League win at Burgess Hill Town. 

Talking ahead of this weekend’s Trophy tie, Maxwell told KSN, “We’re all really looking forward to the game, we know it will be a tough ask as we again have a team that they are a League above and are a Club that are steeped in football tradition.

“They are a Club who have always impressed me; as a player playing against them, a Club that get the ball on the floor and pass it, they have done for years and years and from what I have been told, they are still adopting that style of play.

“So, we know that again we are up against very strong opposition and will have a tough game, but this is the Non-League FA Cup, and we are all looking forward to it!” 

“Tuesday was a great way to bounce back after last Saturday’s disappointment,” Maxwell admitted.

“Burgess Hill are tipped by many to do extremely well this year, they have been well backed and are a good side. The game was in doubt Tuesday because of all the rain, and travelling it was a case of not knowing if the game would be on.

“But when we got there, it had stopped raining, and the pitch was great. It’s always a tough place to go after Saturday’s defeat, they were in great form and we knew that it was going to be a really tough encounter and if the boys hadn’t carried out the information we got across, the result could have been very different, but we turned in a fantastic appointment,

“We were terrifically efficient and there were many, many good performances but it was a real team performance and exactly what we were all looking for as a bounce back from losing in the cup to Plymouth last weekend.” 

“The attitude and application was outstanding from everyone, and we could have scored more goals playing some good football as well, two goals and it could have been one or two more at times. Away from home you would expect Deon to have to make a couple of saves but he was not that troubled – I was exceptionally pleased with everything Tuesday night!” 

“No-one was more disappointed than me with the way we bowed out of the cup last week. I can always take a defeat on the chin providing you have been beaten the right way which usually means that a team have been the better side, and you shake their hand and wish them well.

“I am not saying that Plymouth were not the better sides, they probably were marginally the better side but it will be a tough lesson for the players, a sore one, and although we bounced back on Tuesday, I know that it will affect the players for a while because they have had an opportunity that they have not taken, whether it is down to the mental side of it, I do feel that we were a little bit complacent.

“We had no right to be, they are a League above for a reason, and just because we were in a bit of form and they were not, that means nothing in cup football, nothing at all!

“We tried to warn them of that, but having spoken to some of the players after the game, they did concede that they do feel as though as if they slightly took their eye off the ball and just assumed that we would win. As we saw last weekend, it does not work like that! It is a tough lesson for them, but you get lessons in life and must learn with them, and this is one that will sit in their memory for a while!”