Whitstable were 7-2 weekend winners in their FA Cup tie - but even that display wasn’t enough to totally satisfy boss Jamie Coyle.
The Oystermen found themselves with their noses in front at half-time of the extra preliminary round clash at Lingfield, only for attacking midfielder Bradley Schafer to claim his second on the hour and substitute Dean Grant to bag a late hat-trick.
That came after goals from Schafer, captain Jake McIntyre and striker Javaun Splatt had put Whitstable into a 3-2 half-time advantage against their Southern Combination Premier Division hosts.
Coyle, still without the injured Mikey Dalton, Connor Wilkins, Luke Mandry, Tristan Holden, Essa Jadama and Jake Abrahams, said: “We conceded two really sloppy goals.
“It’s a sign of a good side we were nowhere near our best - and we scored seven goals and got through to the next round!
"But moving forward, it’s really important we don’t put in a performance like that again.
“I think we had some honest conversations with the players at half-time and after the game, and they agreed with what we were saying about the performance, which I think was really positive.”
While experienced striker Grant put the icing on the cake, scoring three goals in 18 minutes, plenty of the Oystermen’s substitutes made positive impacts off the bench.
“We changed the whole of the front four,” said Coyle, who introduced youngster Tagan Kray for his first-team debut late on.
“Deano came on and got a hat-trick, and Callum Peck came on and got two assists. Joe Healy was a constant threat in the attacking midfield role.
“We’re at a stage where our changes can really impact games. Bringing on players to score hat-tricks, it keeps everyone on their toes.
“Hopefully, that stands us in
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