Sittingbourne manager Aslan Odev felt his side did enough to progress in the FA Cup on Saturday.

The Brickies scored a goal in either half to win 2-0 against Bearsted in their preliminary round tie.

“It was a tight game and probably quite good for the neutrals,” reflected Odev. “We ground out the result without playing particularly well.

“I thought we did enough and had enough quality about us to come out winners.

“It’s testament to the players where we haven’t played at our best but have still come away with a good result for the club. We’ll have to be more consistent in our play going forward.

“We’re through to the next round. The board will be happy, I’m happy and the players are loving it so as long as we keep that going then everything’s good.

“The conditions weren’t great and Bearsted really gave it a go but I thought we did well. We were organised enough to see the game out.”

Two goals from Ira Jackson did the damage for Sittingbourne while centre-forward Bola Dawodu also drew praise from his manager after unselfishly setting up the opener.

“Bola just missed a one-on-one a few minutes before that and many strikers would try and make amends but he was a bit more composed and made the right decision which put us 1-0 up,” added Odev.

“We know that he’s got fantastic movement so we’ve got to give him the benefit of the doubt (about the offside).

“Ira is going to shine no matter what happens and we’re happy to put him on that platform to do so.

“He’s a game winner for us and he makes a difference. He’s a good player and is telling us all the right things.”

Sittingbourne now host Cray Wanderers in Bostik South East on Bank Holiday Monday, with Odev delighted after his side kept a clean sheet against Bearsted.

“We’ve been waiting for that clean sheet,” added the Brickies boss. “With the defenders fully focused on that, it was a big green tick for us.

“We need to perform at a higher level to get something out of Cray because they are going to be one of the contenders at the end of the season.

“That’s where we are aiming and if you want to be up there then you need to come out with a good result against teams like Cray.

“These are the standards we’ve set ourselves and we just need to carry that on.

“We’re not looking to win anything, we just need to take each game as it comes and make sure we’re ticking the boxes and playing the way we know we can.”

Read the match report from Sittingbourne's 2-0 win over Bearsted here