Farnham Town manager Paul Johnson admitted his side fell below their usual standards as they beat Rising Ballers Kensington 1-0 at The Memorial Ground in the first round proper of the FA Vase on Saturday afternoon.
Ryan Kinnane headed home the only goal of the game in the ninth minute from Harry Cooksley’s corner.
Town were far from their free-flowing best going forwards, but were rarely troubled at the back as they comfortably sealed their place in the next round of the Vase.
Johnson admitted his side weren’t at their best, but was pleased to see another side to his team and was full of praise for Rising Ballers Kensington.
“You’ve got to give Kensington credit,” said Johnson. “They came here and they gave it a real good go.
“No-one’s really come at us and given it a go – but I think a lot of credit goes to them. We can talk about how poor we were at times but I thought we had a really good 20 minutes at the start where we should have just killed the game and it would have been done. They then came into it – and fair play to them. They grew in confidence.
“We’re never going to be brilliant every week. We will be below standards at times and we need other people to step up when people are.
“Ryan, again, marshalled it at the back. We were poor, but I felt they were never going to score. I think Pat Nash made a save after 70 minutes, and that was it really. It looked like we could score. It’s cup football and we’re through – that’s the main thing.
“We’re going to have many tests, especially with the weather coming in.
“The pitches are getting bogged up, and we saw a side of us that we don’t see often.
“We came through it – and in my eyes we came through it with comfort.”
Johnson was particularly pleased to see his side score from a set piece.
“We’ve been on about set pieces – I don’t think we look threatening enough for the size of us,” said Johnson.
“Harry’s deliveries were good. Ryan got his goal and he’s rattled the bar with another one – and I think Owen Dean should have scored one as well, so we looked good from set pieces.”
The tie is scheduled to be played on Saturday, November 11 at 3pm.
Farnham host Epsom & Ewell in the Combined Counties Premier Division South on Saturday (3pm), before travelling to Sandhurst Town next Tuesday night (October 31).