FA prize money helps so much for the club, says Deal Town head coach Paul Murray

DEAL TOWN head coach Paul Murray says he wants to continue the club’s rich vein of form at home.

The club pulled off a FA Cup shock on Bank Holiday Monday after beating Horsham 2-1 at Goring’s Mead.

Deal Town raced into a 2-0 lead after Charlie Walsh and Ryan Philpott scored within the opening 28 minutes, before the Southern Combination League leaders pulled a goal back through Kieron Pamment’s second half strike.

Deal coach Steve King was then asked to leave the dug-out, before Horsham were reduced to ten-men when midfielder Kevin Keehan was sent-off, but Deal’s one-man advantage only lasted three minutes after Andy Miller picked up his second yellow card with six minutes remaining.

But with goalkeeper Chris Whymark outstanding, Deal Town hung on to the win and sealed a trip to Ryman League Division One South strugglers Whitstable Town in the First Qualifying Round on 12 September.

Deal Town welcome Dorking to The Charles Sports Ground in The FA Vase First Qualifying Round on Saturday.

The Surrey side play in a lower level than Deal Town, and find themselves in the bottom three in Division One of the Combined Counties League.  They have won only one of their opening five league outings.

The Hoops are the only Kent side to win the competition when under Tommy Sampson Roly Graham’s late goal defeated Chippenham Town 1-0 in the Wembley Stadium Final back in 2000.

Murray said: “That’s history for a start. There’s been a lot of changes since then!”

Murray and his coaching staff got their game plan exactly right against Horsham, a club that were playing Ryman League Division One South football back in April.

Murray says he is fully prepare for The Chicks.

He said: “Now we can concentrate on Saturday. We’ll set ourselves up for Saturday.  We’ve got a game plan, we’ve already watched them. It’s at home so hopefully we’ll have a decent support to watch to come down and hopefully we can get a good win.

“We haven’t lost at home for 12 games now, I think, since we came in and took over.

“We’re quietly confident is the word but we’ll see, we’ll see.”

Deal Town have scooped £3,425 from FA Cup prize money, with a further £3,000 up for grabs against Whitstable Town next weekend, while the club will bank another £600 if they knock Dorking out of The FA Vase on Saturday.

Murray said: “That should buy a couple of drinks for the boys!

“The club’s got no money. We’ve got a new clubhouse being built so hopefully that will be open at the end of September and the club can build on from that and step forward from that but this (prize money) helps so much for the club.

“The board that we’ve got at the moment are brilliant, absolutely brilliant. They want to make things better for the club so the chairman’s going to have a smile on his face I think.”

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

Deal Town  v  Dorking
The FA Vase First Qualifying Round
Saturday 5^th September 2015
Kick Off 3:00pm
at The Charles Sports Ground, St Leonards Road, Deal, Kent CT14 9AU