Deal Town boss Steve King praises side’s character and team spirit as they bounce back from 6-1 derby drubbing at Faversham Town with 1-0 FA Cup win at Crowborough Athletic

Manager Steve King praised Deal’s character and team spirit as they responded from their derby drubbing on Saturday.

The Hoops claimed a 1-0 FA Cup preliminary round victory at Isthmian South East divisional rivals Crowborough - four days on from their 6-1 league loss at Faversham.

It was a Salters Lane scoreline that few had seen coming.

While Deal have had a successful time of it in recent years, they have also been good at bouncing back from rare setbacks, something they did again in east Sussex.

King said: “It (his squad’s character) is never in question but you always have that worry until you bounce back.

“It’s testament to the character of our squad and the team spirit.

“Whenever we have setbacks, we do have a really good record of bouncing straight back.

“When things start to go wrong in games, it can be hard to change it. It’s a test of your mentality as a group when you have those testing situations.

“That was the main thing on Saturday, just bouncing back from a tough night.”

Rory Smith who came up with the game’s only goal at Crowborough, the striker also having netted at Faversham.

It was the first competitive shut-out this term, as well.

“It was a really important win,” noted King, who has taken Deal into the FA Cup first qualifying round for the first time in five years.

“We had to get a reaction to a tough week last week, regardless of whether that was in an FA Cup or a league game.

“We deserved our win and to get into the first qualifying round. Whenever you go away to a team in your league, it’s never easy.

“Defensively, we’d had a bit of a nightmare on Tuesday so we really wanted to make sure we got that right.

“To be honest, we probably should have scored more goals but, sometimes as a manager, you