Tooting & Mitcham United boss Craig Tanner praised his charges after they came within a whisker of causing an FA Cup upset at Bishop’s Stortford on Saturday.
And the chances of claiming a big scalp remain and Tanner has to ask his side to do it all over again after a 0-0 stalemate in Hertfordshire.
Goalkeeper David Gregory, on loan from Premier League Crystal Palace, was the hero for Bishop’s Stortford after his last gasp save denied Terrors Dan Summers a headline grabbing winner.
Bishop’s Stortford sit 13th in the Vanarama Conference South, 46 places above the Terrors in the non-League pyramid, and the pair lock horns against tonight (Tuesday) at Imperial Fields.
Tanner said: “The boys did what they have been doing all season, and we dominated the game for the first half an hour.
“Stortford then began to press us a little higher up the pitch, but we had a great chance to win it at the end but their keeper made a great save from Dan (Summers).
“In the end a draw was probably a fair result.”
He added: “There keeper is on loan from Crystal Palace, and it was a measure of who we were playing.
“But it was an interesting exercise in terms of how far we’ve come in a year, and there are some players who think they should be playing at Stortford’s level, so it was interesting for them.”
Tanner has a full squad to pick from after David Graves returned from suspension and Craig Watkins’ work commitments allow him to play.
The winners of the replay will pocket £4,500 in prize money and face a trip to East Thurrock United of the Ryman Premier in the third qualifying round.
Tanner said: “It’s a favourable draw when you consider the teams in the competition, and it would be another massive game.
“But we cannot think about that now, we have concentrate on tonight’s game.”
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