Following Monday’s draw, Potter said, “We would have been delighted with a home tie but we’ll prepare as we have done so far in the competition to see what we can do to put ourselves in the hat for the next round.
“We’ve got a couple of big games between now and then, we’ll be concentrating on putting in good performances in those first”
“The players stood up and were counted on the pitch as well to highlight just how far we’ve come in the last two to three years”
Danny Potter, First Team Coach
Speaking about the mood at the club after a memorable cup win at the weekend that attracted a record crowd to Oaklands Park Potter said, “It’s just very positive, from the involvement of the supporters to the way a lot of people at the club behind the scenes came together for the occasion. All that was a huge advert for what we can do at this football club. And I think the players stood up and were counted on the pitch as well to highlight just how far we’ve come in the last two to three years to show that we’re now at a stage where we can be competitive and beat some very good sides.”
Chichester scored ten goals in two games in the preliminary stages of the cup. A 3-1 home win against Erith Town thanks to a Callum Overton double and a late one from fellow summer signing Jamie Horncastle was followed by an emphatic 7-2 victory away at south east London side Bridon Ropes when Overton was on target again and Scott Jones, Gicu Iordache and Kaleem Haitham all bagged braces.
Since then City have shut up shop in the competition overcoming Chalfont St Peter 2-0, with goals from Iordache and Emmett Dunn, before claiming step 3 scalps against Hartley Wintney, when a lone Horncastle strike in the replay at Oaklands Park saw Chichester progress after the game in North Hampshire finished 0-0, and another one in the club’s latest FA Cup heroics over high flying opponents as Lloyd Rowlatt’s late goal gave Chi a narrow 1-0 win on Saturday against visitors Enfield Town.
Potter was quick to applaud fellow coach Dabba Killpartrick, who joined the Oaklands Park staff before the start of pre-season, and his contribution to an historic FA Cup run in which Chichester have been resilient recently in keeping clean sheets.
“Dabba’s been fantastic for the club. He’s given us ideas. The players are responding to his demands and expectations, and it is working. We’ve got a very committed back line now that do not want to concede. There’s no secret in football about how you keep clean sheets, it’s all about the attitude of the players.”
This history making Chichester side, the first one from the city to make it this far in the FA Cup in half a century, will be hoping for another clean sheet in the next round.
Fixtures in the last round of qualifying in the competition are due to be played on the weekend of Saturday 19th October.
