Gravesend & Northfleet 3 Slough Town 2

GRAVESEND manager Liam Daish was a relieved man as his side made it through to the last eight of the FA Trophy at the expense of Ryman Premier Division strugglers Slough Town on Saturday.

Fleet took the lead but then had to come from behind to book their place in the quarter-finals.

Daish said: "It was a hard game but in reflection I think we deserved to go through. Losing Graham Porter early on meant we had to have a re-shuffle and then losing Roy (Essandoh) was another blow but the boys dug deep and got the result.

"They didn’t have many chances but we kept our discipline and we got through but it was a bit too close for comfort.

"We know if we’re going to be in a latter stages of a cup competition not everything’s going to go your way but the lads responded well and we deserved it."

Fleet got off to the perfect start when Paul McCarthy gave them the lead after just 10 minutes with a header at the far post from a Lee Protheroe corner.

But their joy was short-lived as Slough equalised immediately when defender Michael Murphy’s speculative 25-yard chip caught Paul Wilkerson off his line.

The home side suffered two injury blows in a disappointing first half. First Graham Porter picked up a nasty ankle injury, then Roy Essandoh was stretchered off after a sickening collision with the post.

Daish looked angry as he went in to give his half-time talk. Presumably he wanted his team to stamp their authority on the lower division opponents.

But the second half began badly for Gravesend as they went behind on 52 minutes to Murphy’s second of the game, this time a header from a free-kick.

The home side finally moved up a gear and were level within six minutes when Jay Saunders converted from another Protheroe cross.

The Manny Omoyinmi put Gravesend ahead for the first time 10 minutes later when he went on a weaving run and was able to slot the ball home across the keeper.

After this, Fleet started to show why they were the higher division side and they were able to hold on fairly comfortably.