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 been good at bouncing back from rare setbacks, too, something they did again.

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 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 don’t mind having to dig it out at the end.

“Crowborough are a decent side. They’d had a good win in midweek against Hassocks (winning 3-1), so it certainly wasn’t an easy game, and I was really pleased with the clean sheet.

“There’s always a club from our league that goes through another round or two and, maybe this year, that can be us.”

While King admits if the Hoops can come out of a weekend double-header with a strong points haul things could look much better for them, they will be remaining level-headed even if they don’t, with the season very much in its infancy.

He said: “I remember we played Lancing and Broadbridge Heath first up last year.

“Lancing ended up getting relegated and Broadbridge Heath finished in mid-table. We got six points from those games and everyone said it was a brilliant start.

“I think Sittingbourne are one of the favourites for the division and, with Faversham, they’ll certainly have a chance of getting into the play-offs.

“After 10 games, I think that’s when you get a good gauge. If we get four or six points over the weekend, then it becomes a half-decent start.

“But if that doesn’t happen, we will not hit the panic button because we know the start we’ve had has been really tough.”

Next up is Saturday’s home match with Merstham before a Bank Holiday Monday derby trip to play Liam Friend’s new-look Herne Bay outfit.

King said: “We had good support on Saturday, even at Crowborough, that’s a long journey for them.

“We have got a Merstham side this weekend, who made the play-offs last year, and Herne Bay have had a decent start under Liam.

“At home in a Kent derby, they’ll be up for that, so they’ll be two tough tests.

"But I’m really looking forward to both those games.”

Deal have been handed an FA Cup first qualifying round home draw against Cobham after they won their midweek replay 1-0 at Margate.