Heavy rain gave Deal a boost for their FA Cup home win over Guildford City.

Steve King’s Hoops earned a 2-0 weekend triumph in the Extra Preliminary Round.

The weather conditions meant striker Rory Smith - due to be playing cricket for Sandwich Town - dashed back from Sevenoaks Vine after his cricket clash fell foul of the weather in time to start, having arrived around an hour prior to kick-off.

“We had two plans,” explained manager King. “One without him and one with him.

“With Riley Alford coming back to full fitness, and Connor Coyne struggling a little bit, it was helpful to have him.

“So we put Rory in to start.”

Second-half strikes by midfielders Billy Munday and Ben Chapman, another who also plays cricket for Sandwich, saw them to victory after the previous weekend’s opening-day Southern Counties East League loss at Fisher.

King said: “Billy’s was a header from a set-piece. Obviously we know that’s a strength of ours.

“Then, the second was a typical Ben Chapman goal on the counter-attack. He got nearly 20 goals last season from midfield.

“We know we’ve got to share goals around to be successful.

“Adding Rory in, hopefully, will add to our goal threat. But we always pride ourselves on getting goals from numerous areas.”

But King, who also welcomed young defender Alex Green back from suspension, felt his side could have made life easier for themselves.

He reflected: “We played well, we just missed too many chances. We should have made it more comfortable than it was.

“Guildford worked hard, fair play to them, but we had 23 opportunities and scored our second with the last kick of the game. So we scored one out of 22 opportunities.

“But our all-round play was good and we kept a clean sheet.”

Deal progressed to the Preliminary Round, where they will visit division rivals Lydd, despite losing captain Alfie Foster to a second-half red card.

“It was unlucky,” King said.

“But having reviewed the video, I think the referee probably got it right.

“He was on the floor, trying to get the ball and ended up making contact with the other player’s chest.

“It’s an unfortunate one but, from the referee’s position, I can see why he gave it.

“It’s not ideal but Kane Smith is back and played 15 minutes on Saturday.

“I say that but, if you come on for 15 or 20 minutes, you can end up playing almost half an hour with the new added time rules!

“But he’s getting back towards full fitness so, hopefully, it’s not terrible.”

King also commented on English football’s new radical approach to stoppage time.

All but two opening-weekend Football League matches went beyond 100 minutes, with the same rules being implemented at non-league level.

“From a managerial point of view, we have to consider the timing of our substitutions,” said King, a teacher, who likened the changes to new rules that schools often aim to implement at the start of an academic year.

“I said earlier Kane Smith came on with around 15 minutes left - but we played eight minutes of added time!

“I do worry about the toll on non-league players’ bodies, playing Saturday-Tuesday.

“Don’t get me wrong, there were times where I was frustrated last season with time-wasting.

“We’re quite lucky in the Southern Counties East League because we have got five substitutions. That’s going to have to be more and more of a consideration.

“You’re going to see changes at 90 and 91 minutes.

“But I remember, after the 2018 World Cup, they tried clamping down on shirt-pulling.

“There were two penalties a game for about two weeks, then virtually nothing after that.

“I’m not sure paying supporters will want 10 minutes added in the middle of November!”

There’s another two tricky games for the Hoops, who host VCD - victors in the FA Cup at Sandhurst Town - this Saturday and travel to newly-promoted Snodland on Wednesday.

King said: “We have got a really tough start. We’ve not made it any easier by losing that first game.

“VCD is going to be very tough.

“They got a good win in the cup and I don’t think you can read too much into them losing to Faversham. Then, we’ll go to Snodland.

“They have a side, on paper, who could challenge for the title. So that’s going to be a really tough test.

“We’re going to have to be at our best but I go into every game confident.”

Foster starts his three-match ban this weekend.