RAMSGATE boosted their FA Cup prize winnings to more than £20,000 by reaching the first round proper for the first time in 50 years on Saturday.

Players, management and officials packed into the club’s tiny boardroom to witness the draw live after the match, which paired them away to Nuneaton Borough on Saturday week.

Chairman Richard Lawson denied there was any sense of anti-climax. missing out on one of the Football League big-boys including Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield, but admitted the money is a timely, unexpected boost to the club’s coffers.

He said: "It’s proving very handy. Twelve months ago we were a Kent League club, now we have won that and want to go as far as we can."

Two of the goalscorers Shane Suter and Michael Yianni were both back at work on Monday after helping write the latest chapter in the club's successful season. Local boy Suter is a 22-year-old shopfitter, while Yianni is a 21-year-old electrician who lives in Folkestone.

Experienced midfielder Mark Munday has seen it all it before. It's the fourth time the 34-year-old Kent journeyman has figured in the first round proper.

Nuneaton are third in Nationwide Conference North.