Fortune favoured the brave as 10-man Sheppey made a winning start to the Isthmian South East season.

The Ites were already a goal down at Three Bridges on Saturday when Harry Hogben was controversially sent off midway through the second half.

But damage limitation was the last thing on manager Ernie Batten’s mind and his commitment to attack was rewarded as Jacob Lambert and Dan Bradshaw struck in the last 11 minutes to earn a 2-1 victory.

It sets them up nicely for their FA Cup preliminary round tie at North Greenford this Saturday (3pm), the Ites’ first game in the competition since their historic run to the first round proper last season.

“We made a couple of substitutions and went three at the back,” said Batten.

“My view is you may as well lose three or four as lose 1-0 so we went for it with 10 men.

“The two subs that came on, Victor Aiyelabola and Eitel Goueth, linked up well on the right and cut the back for Jacob, who does what Jacob does with a lovely sidefoot finish.

“I’ve always had the view that I want to try and win the game, no matter what.

“We could have reverted to a back four and settled for a point but we decided to leave it as it was because even with 10 men, we weren’t under any kind of pressure.

“I think Aiden Prall maybe had one save to make when they got us on the break but apart from that we were pretty much camped in their half.

“I took the view that if we’re doing that, why don’t we try and go for the win? As it turned out, we got it.

“Gil Carvalho’s cut it back and there’s Dan to poke it home.

“You can always rely on Dan to be in the box.

“It’s something you can’t coach. You can say get in the box, make your runs but it’s a bit of an instinct really.

“I was a striker myself and you try to coach forwards to be there but at the end of the day it’s instinctive, you’re on autopilot when you’re a forward.

“You know exactly where to be and sometimes you don’t know how you got there, you just get there. It’s something you’re born with.

“It was a very satisfying win and it’s funny because I said to them before the game everyone can be a winner, it’s easy to be a winner when it’s all rosy in the garden, but what happens in adversity if you’re a goal or two down?

“You’ve got to dig in because they’re the sides that are going to be successful, the ones that can dig themselves out of situations but, blimey, I didn’t think we’d be facing that in the first game. It was quite an apt speech.”

Sheppey plan to appeal Hogben’s red card which was given for an alleged stamp on Bridges keeper Luke Glover.

It was nothing of the sort, according to Batten.

He said: “The keeper caught a cross and more or less fell at Harry’s shins and toppled him over.

“Harry’s tried to stay on his feet and he’s ended up lightly standing on the keeper as he’s tried to avoid him.

“I don’t know what else Harry could have done.”

FA Cup memories will come flooding back for Batten and his players at North Greenford this weekend.

The club are still feeling the benefits of last season’s heroics, which culminated in a televised tie against League 2 Walsall at a packed Holm Park.

It’s asking a lot to reach the first round again but that won’t stop the Ites attempting to make more history.

“It brings back memories,” said Batten.

“It’s very difficult to progress to the first round proper but three sides from our league did it last year and Ramsgate got to the second round, so you’ve got to believe you can do it.

“We’ll be up for it. It’s a difficult draw. North Greenford got to the quarter-finals of the Vase last season. I think it’ll be difficult at their ground. We’ll have to be on top form to get a result.

“That run last season raised our profile and put us on the map.

“Our attendances grew steadily from then until the end of the season and we ended up with 1,500 at the last game.”

Darren Blackburn has stepped back from his role as Sheppey assistant manager due to time constraints.

Blackburn joined in the close season, working with Batten and fellow assistant Geoff Record.

“Darren was doing a hell of a lot of work behind the scenes with player recruitment,” said Batten.

“He’s very passionate about football and if you had a conversation with Darren it’s not a five-minute one.

“He could be on the phone an hour, he’s that passionate about the game, and if he’s doing that with four or five players every evening, he’s not seeing much of his family.

“I think that was the situation.

“He’s building a house as well and I think coming back into football, the thought is nice but the reality is it does take a lot of your time. He’s got a phone in one hand and a paintbrush in the other.”

Sheppey won’t directly replace Blackburn.

Instead, Batten is looking for a coach to help out at training.