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Boss Steve King praised long-serving striker Connor Coyne after his two-goal display helped Deal progress in the FA Vase.
Coyne, who bagged his 100th Deal goal last season, netted twice on Saturday as the Hoops won 4-2 at Southern Counties East Premier Division rivals Phoenix Sports in the Second Round.
There’s added competition for places up front - Dean James, Aaron Millbank and Riley Alford have joined since the end of last term - but it appears to be bringing the best out of 30-year-old Coyne.
“I cannot give Connor enough credit,” said King.
“We brought Rory Smith in briefly, we’ve brought Riley Alford in and Aaron Millbank in, but Connor’s starting a lot of games now and he deserved his goals on Saturday.
“I have seen pretty much every one of his goals for Deal Town - so no-one needs to tell me how good he is.
“Him and Aaron have formed a good partnership. I was really pleased for him.”
Left-sided player Jack Penny was also on target for the Hoops at Phoenix while midfielder Ben Chapman wrapped up the win late on.
The Hoops were beaten 3-0 at Phoenix last month in the league but they went some way to avenging that loss.
King said: “It was a good game that could have gone either way. It was a proper cup tie, the lads deserve a lot of credit.
“It’s a game we have targeted since we lost there in the league, really. But there was a little bit of Vase magic as well, I always say the competition means a lot to us.
"It was a good footballing performance against a really decent side.”
They’re a team Deal beat 9-1 in pre-season but King won’t take them lightly after a 6-3 win at Glebe saw Bengal progress.
“It’s a strange one,” King recalled.
“We actually played them in a pre-season friendly, arranged last minute.
“We beat them quite comfortably that night but they were scrambling to get a team. Any team scoring six goals against Glebe is a good side.
“I would have loved to have been at home - four out of five have been away this season in the Vase now - but we have avoided the big hitters at Step 5 so we are not too displeased.”
It’s back to league action - and back with a bang, too - as Deal welcome leaders Erith & Belvedere to the Charles Sports Ground this Saturday.
King said: “We want to stop giving goals away cheaply in games we have played well in, it’s been our Achilles heel at the minute.
“On Saturday, hopefully, we can go again and show we can cope with the best sides in the league. I still think Phoenix will be up there but we have beaten them this season, we have beaten Whitstable and we were 2-0 up against Stansfeld.
“You cannot go into these games and say ‘We are going to win that’ - we’ll have to make sure our performance levels are right. But it’s a game we’re excited about.”
Deal Reserves have been drawn away to Faversham under-23s in the Second Round of the Kent Intermediate Cup.
