Hornchurch manager Mark Stimson is hoping his players' love of the game can continue spurring them on after bagging a trip to Darlington in the FA Trophy quarter-finals.
The Urchins will make the trip to Blackwell Meadows on Saturday, February 27 as they bid to pull off another shock upset. They have already progressed past four higher level clubs in the competition.
Stimson’s men have only played in the Trophy since November with the Isthmian Premier League being ground to a halt.
“What we do gain is the love of the game. We miss it so much when we’re not playing, so every game we say to the boys 'this could be the last game of our season'.
“We have that in our back pocket.”
He added: “It is a trip, but one we look forward to. Darlington have got a great history and are a big club.
“Come the 27th hopefully we’ll be ready and get up there safe. We try to give the boys as much information as we can about this fantastic competition that I've experienced. And they’ve taken it onboard so far.
“To reach the quarter-final stage, everyone at the club is really proud.”
Stimson, a four-time Trophy winner, already knows what a massive achievement it is for the club to reach this stage of the competition. Hornchurch last achieved such a feat in the 2003/04 season.
Of victory over Maidstone in the last round, Stimson said: "What a club they are and have been. They came fully loaded and as strong as they could have been.
“Like I said to our players, we’re playing for a quarter-final, we’re not just playing a league game or in the first round of the FA Trophy, this is the last 16.
“It’s a fantastic achievement, I'm led to believe the furthest Hornchurch have ever got to, and the boys deserve that.”
He now knows some of his players will need nurturing ahead of the next round.
“A couple of them probably won’t do anything now for two weeks. Sam Higgins and Remi Sutton will probably just have to have treatment, just to try and recover.
“The others will come in and we will try to work as much as we can because it was only 14 [players] today and without those two it’s 12, so we are light on numbers.
“We need to enjoy this moment in some really crazy times outside of football and this is why this game is so special for us all - for moments like this.
“I feel for Maidstone as I've been on that side of it as well, a last-minute goal in a competition, but I'm sure they’ll pick themselves up and finish the season strong.
“For us it keeps our season going.”
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