Steve McKimm refused to take Cray Valley PM’s FA Trophy third qualifying round tie at Ramsgate lightly on Saturday.

A goal from midfielder Matthew Vigor and forward Freddie Parker’s brace in the first 30 minutes were enough to lead the Millers to a 3-1 victory at Southwood.

While Cray Valley now are a division above Ben Smith’s side, the two teams had been battling it out for the Isthmian South East title last term.

But Millers manager McKimm said sometimes even more analysis is required ahead of playing lower-division opposition.

“It was very comfortable,” he reflected on their win. “We knew what to expect from Ramsgate.

“We had a couple of players out, meaning that Danny (Waldren) had to play centre-half but we knew what we were going to get from them - they’re a good side that pass the ball well. But once we stopped that, we capitalised on their mistakes, let’s get it right, which was good for us.

“I think they’ve only had one or two shots on our goal. We did our homework on them very thoroughly and we didn’t take it lightly.

Report: Ramsgate 1-3 Cray Valley PM

“Just because you’re the league above, sometimes, you have to do even harder analysis and I thought we did well. At times, when we had to break, we broke.

“We scored our goals and it was quite a comfortable afternoon, to be honest.”

Cray Valley’s first two goals came from mistakes but McKimm was eager to point out their third - Parker’s second - had come after a well-worked move.

He said: “Freddie has been out injured for a couple of weeks so Coombesy (Adam Coombes) has come in.

“He has done ever so well. It was a difficult decision today, but Freddie got the two goals and capitalised on a mistake for the first goal.

“The third goal, this is where people won’t understand, it’s a great run inside, a great slide pass and a great finish.

“But we’re a long-ball team so we don’t score goals like that!”

While any hopes Cray Valley might have of making it to Wembley for the FA Trophy final might seem a long way off, it has been done before. Hornchurch lifted the cup for the first time in their history in 2021 - 20 years after Canvey Island had been triumphant in the Trophy.

“We got to the second round last year and were comfortably beaten (5-1) by Hampton & Richmond that were a very good side,” recalled McKimm. “We’ll just see the draw that comes in front of us.

“I’ve told these boys that there’s plenty of clubs who have unexpectedly gone to Wembley. The likes of Canvey Island, with Jeff King, and teams like that.

“The National League is so put up with getting back into the Football League that a lot of them - apart from Bromley - don’t put their first sides out.

“Even then, their second string should be good enough to beat a Step 3 side. But when you come up against sides like that, if their focus is more on the league, they might not really be interested and that’s when you can capitalise.

“There’s a long way to go. But we’re excited to be in the hat for Monday.”

Having raced into a comfortable lead at Ramsgate, the fixture became the ideal opportunity for McKimm to give a debut to Tom Beere off the substitutes’ bench.

Experienced midfielder Beere - a player McKimm had at Tonbridge - was signed after Hassan Ibrahiym decided to leave. Beere made a 30-minute appearance in front of a crowd of 685.

McKimm explained: “With Has deciding to leave the club, that was his choice. We thought highly of Has.

“He decided to leave the club on Monday and the opportunity to sign Tom Beere came about.

“I’ve worked with him before, he’s worked with us before, so he knows what we’re about. You saw when he came on the bits of quality that he has.

“He’s only going to enhance our football club.”

The Millers are at Canvey Island in the league on Tuesday.