Lydd Town have made history by reaching the FA Vase First Round.

Mickey Doyle’s Southern Counties East Division 1 leaders upset Premier Division Hollands & Blair 2-1 at the Lindsey Field on Saturday.

Goals from in-form Ryan Philpott and Luke Reeve put them in charge of the Second Qualifying Round tie, with Blair, whose boss Scott Porter used to play for Lydd, scoring a late penalty through Ben Brown.

Lydd have been drawn at home to Holyport in the First Round on October 22.

“To be honest, we outplayed Hollands & Blair,” said manager Doyle.

“It should have been more comfortable but we made a silly mistake for the penalty - I think my keeper got a little bit bored!

"It’s the first time in our history we’ve made the First Round Proper.

“Everyone at the club was excited about the draw.

“I don’t know too much about Holyport but we’ll do our homework, like we do on every team, and it’ll be a great occasion for the club.”

Lydd only won one match in pre-season but a testing schedule stood them in good stead for the competitive action.

As well as their FA Vase efforts, they’re three points clear in the league and host AFC Whyteleafe this Saturday.

Summer signings such as Craig Calvert, Kenny Pogue and Tyler Sterling have made a big impact, while Doyle held on to the likes of Philpott and Brad Baker and continues to count on long-serving captain Ryan Smith.

“It’s all come together at the right time,” said Doyle. “This is what we’ve been trying to do for a few years.

“I took over just before Covid and wanted to change the culture of the club because it had a bit of a bad name.

“Ryan Smith, the skipper, has been vital in that. He’s bought into the way we want to do things, he sets the standards and is always pushing.

“We got the targets we wanted and kept the ones we wanted and it’s going well.

“It’s a very competitive league, I don’t think there’s a runaway team in there.

“Larkfield & New Hythe and Snodland were probably tipped as favourites at the start of the season but I think it’s going to be very close.

“We’ve beaten Larkfield at home, we’ve got Snodland in a month, we’ve drawn with Faversham Strike Force, who are second, and beaten Greenways, who have also started well.

“Whoever’s the most consistent will win the league, it’s as simple as that.

“You want a good start, then you’ve got the Christmas run and then you want to make sure you finish strongly.

“We’ve got to make we keep raising the standards.

"The team have been great pushing us as a management team and we’ve been great pushing them.”