Nicky Southall revealed match-winner Craig Thompson almost didn’t feature in the FA Trophy win at Carshalton after missing the team bus.

Despite having enjoyed the pre-match meal with his team-mates, the striker was left behind as the coach left The Belmont shortly before noon and his absence was only noticed with the journey towards Surrey well underway.

Manager Southall revealed: “I’d left it up to my coaching staff to count heads before I got on and for some reason he was missed out. The coaches arrived a little earlier than expected and the players were all wandering off to use the loo before getting onboard.

“Once we’d realised, the next thing we know is Craig is on the phone and he’s ended up following us along until we got to a hotel at Wrotham where he could get on. The lads insisted we fined him for being late!”

Thompson was the hero with the winner six minutes from the end of the third qualifying round tie at the Ryman League, Premier Division strugglers.

He turned in Scott Heard’s cross to complete a deserved comeback win after John Guest’s close-range finish on 75 minutes had cancelled out the Athletic opener, which arrived after Ian Cox’s weak clearance fell to Adriano Moraes to fire home.