A very enjoyable day out on the south coast. Should have been a comfortable path to the next round but we made heavy work of it. Lots of new faces in the squad so it will take time to get used to them.
The opening period was ours and the ball spent most of its time in the home sides half. We went ahead with a smart finish from Shay Brennan on 21 minutes. A few minutes later a goalkeeper error from Toby McKimm gifted Varndeanians an undeserved equaliser and from then on the hosts grew in confidence. They were now the team doing the attacking until just before half time when a breakaway down the left side, a cross followed and short range shot from Freddie Jones restored our lead.
The second half was fairly even with a few half chances for both teams. I think we were the deserved winners but we will have to improve if we are to progress any further in the competition. Croydon Athletic will be a lot stronger opposition than we had yesterday but I think we will rise to the challenge.