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Folkestone Invicta boss Neil Cugley has urged his players to make the most of their FA Cup draw

Neil Cugley allowed himself a moment of reflection on his FA Cup glory days and hopes Folkestone players are on the path to making memories of their own.

After seeing off Waltham Forest on Saturday, Invicta were drawn away to Oxfordshire side North Leigh of the Evo-Stik Southern League Division 1 South & West in the third qualifying round on Saturday, October 1.

It is the furthest Cugley’s side have progressed since a fourth qualifying round appearance in 2007/08 when they lost 2-0 to Billericay Town, although Cugley admitted: “I didn’t realise it was that long ago but then we have had some hard draws since then, your Ebbsfleets and Margates, it’s not been easy.”

Neil Cugley Picture: Gary Browne
Neil Cugley Picture: Gary Browne

He added: “I was lucky enough at Ashford to manage against Watford and Fulham – they were great days, the days you want to be involved in football for.

“Of course you want to have memories like the (Chester v Folkestone) game (in the first round in 2005/06) but in order to get to those, you have to play the games against the likes of North Greenford, Waltham Forest and North Leigh.”

Cugley admitted ‘life’s good’ after Invicta collected £4,500 for Saturday’s 3-1 win over Waltham Forest – which saw a first senior goal for 16-year-old Euan Sahadow.

He added: “Ideally you’d like to be at home but it’s a third game against a side from a lower division and you can’t ask for more than that.

“Of course, we’ll do our homework and we won’t take them lightly –they had a great win on Saturday (beating Vanarama National League South Weston-super-Mare 2-1) so they must be quite good.”

Cugley claimed it was a case of job done on Saturday although he was unimpressed with his side, claiming: “Our two worst performances of the season have come in the Cup.”

He revealed he might appeal against Ronnie Dolan’s red card for a challenge which left Forest’s Ahmed Mohammed in hospital and said: “We’ll wait and see the video but I know Ron and it’s hard enough getting him to make a tackle – I can’t believe he’s the type to go out there and go through people.”

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