Faversham Strike Force boss Stuart Benfield hopes FA Cup extra preliminary round home fixture against Snodland Town attracts large crowd as he also reflects on opening-day league 3-3 draw at Tunbridge Wells

Boss Stuart Benfield hopes Faversham Strike Force’s home FA Cup fixture will attract a bumper attendance.

Strike Force, who started the new Southern Counties East League Premier Division season with last weekend’s 3-3 draw at Tunbridge Wells, welcome divisional rivals Snodland to The Belmont for an extra preliminary round tie tomorrow evening.

Snodland are led by player-boss Connor Dymond after he replaced joint-managers Luke Jessup and Fred Dillon over the close season.

Benfield said: “I think it’s everyone’s dream to play in the FA Cup for as long as you can.

“It will be a tough game but it will be a good game on a Friday night.

“That will be a massive boost in terms of the sort of crowd we should get.

"Snodland will be completely different to the team we played last year under their new management team but we’ll go into it afresh and see how we get on.”

While Benfield would rather play opposition from different divisions in national competitions, he can see the benefits of facing familiar foes.

“You want to go somewhere new and play someone different,” he said. “That’s the same in the FA Cup and the FA Vase.

“But having teams you play regularly, that will have its benefits. We know what we will be up against, which will help us to prepare.

“It will still be a tough game, especially after they had a good result [winning 1-0 against Rusthall] on Saturday.”

Strike Force started the new season with a topsy-turvy draw at the Culverden Stadium.

They trailed to a fifth-minute goal, only for striker Harry Taylor - last term’s top scorer - to get them level.

Two goals from Cian McCormack then put them in control, with the hosts having Owen Punselie red-carded, as it was 3-2 ahead of the final 10 minutes.

But Tunbridge Wells