Havant and Waterlooville “rode their luck” against eighth tier Cray Valley, as they secured a place in the Second Round draw of the FA Cup for just the second time in the club’s history.

Midfielder Bedsente Gomis netted the winner midway through the first half and manager Paul Doswell was very happy with how it came about: “He couldn’t miss it, it was all about the build up – a fantastic seven pass move. A great little chip from McLennan, but that was probably the one bit of absolute quality in the game.”

However, despite guiding them into the next round, the Hawks boss felt the tie could easily have gone the other way: “Enormous credit to Cray Valley, perhaps a bit more composure and quality in certain areas, they should have scored. We could have been out today, we rode our luck at times and were ill disciplined at times. We’ll play better, that’s for sure.

“You can’t get over how difficult these particular games are. It’s no different to Chatham and Horsham away, they’re not easy games. And I think everyone that’s seen today’s game would have seen that.”

Godfrey Poku’s red card on the hour mark meant they would have to play the final third of the match with ten men. Doswell was full of praise for his side’s efforts to see the game out: “Credit to the ten players for sticking at it. We had to defend and we did very well to stop Ross Worner having to make a save. I still think they are unlucky not to be in the hat, but in life you need a bit of luck and we got ours today.

“But take nothing away from the ten players out there. That is not easy and I think to limit their chances and create one or two ourselves. I think we’ve got to be okay with that.”

The Emirates FA Cup Second Round draw takes place tonight, with the games scheduled to be played between 27-30 November.

By Ryan Honey (@ryanhoney90