Margate manager Terry Brown revealed he and his players received the backing of chairman Bob Laslett before Saturday's 4-1 FA Cup third qualifying round win over Truro City at Hartsdown Park.

Brown said Mr Laslett addressed the management team and the players before the game, telling them he had every confidence in them ending their winless sequence in front of their own fans.

The result was Gate's first victory in eight attempts at Hartsdown this season and an end to a run of five successive home defeats.

Brown explained: "Bob had a chat with us before the game. He let us know he was patient, and he had faith in the management and faith in the team and said if we kept playing our football it would come so I am so pleased for him.

"It was a big vote of confidence and luckily enough we followed the vote of confidence up with a win which isn't always the case."

Brown said Gate had to use Saturday's performance as the benchmark for the rest of their season and he hailed the impact of striker Freddie Ladapo, who scored one goal and set up two others.

Brown said: "Freddie looked a massive handful today. He was a class above once he'd scored his goal.

"I played up front myself and I know that once you've scored a goal you're a different player and he was exactly as good as I think he is."

Some of the gloss was taken off Margate's win by the dismissal of Charlie Allen, just two minutes after he had come on as a 77th minute substitute.

The midfielder saw red for a poor challenge on Truro's Dan Green and while Brown did not try to defend the tackle, he did think the former midfielder was a tad unlucky.

He added: "Charlie Allen is not a dirty player - he's not a tackler to be honest. He's a runner and a skilful player going forward.

"It was his first challenge and he got it all wrong. From the referee's point of view, he's seen him go over the top (of the ball) and I can't complain about that.

"Me knowing Charlie isn't that type of player doesn't make any difference. The ref has got to go on what he saw but I thought the boy was incredibly unlucky, but hey that's football."