Anthony Church put retirement on hold to fire Sittingbourne through to the FA Trophy quarter-finals.

Midfielder Church scored in the sixth minute of added time as the Brickies won 1-0 at National League Southend on Saturday.

The 37-year-old considered his career to be over after leaving Bishop’s Stortford recently.

But he decided to play on after the Brickies came calling and marked his debut by scoring the winner as Ryan Maxwell’s Isthmian South East side continued their record-breaking Trophy exploits.

“I was probably retired a couple of weeks ago,” said Church, who came on at Roots Hall with four minutes of normal time left.

“I was at Bishop’s Stortford for a period, I was just trying to juggle a lot of work commitments with football and training, so I wasn’t really looking to play.

“But the group is one you can obviously get pulled into and I think what the management team have done is incredible.

“Any team that goes 27 games unbeaten and goes this far in the Trophy shows it’s a special team.

“I’ve been involved in football a long time, 20-plus years, but this is a special group.

“They’ve just made history and I’ve been a tiny part of that, so I’m just glad I joined.

“I’ve known Maxy and I’ve known Reece Prestedge, the assistant manager, for 20 years.

“They asked if I could help out where I can, I did, and I’m fortunate to have been involved in this win.

“I was only coming on for 10 minutes to shore things up with a bit of experience, and I’ve ended up scoring the winner.”

Church, who’s also played for Boston and Chelmsford, could see the work that had gone into preparing for the Southend tie.

The Shrimpers may have been three leagues higher than Sittingbourne but Maxwell’s team were never just going to Roots Hall for a day out.

They felt they could win and delivered in dramatic fashion, having maintained concentration to keep the hosts at bay before landing the knockout blow.

“The management team did a lot of due diligence and homework,” said Church.

“They came up with a game plan and the team carried it out and executed it brilliantly.

“It was always going to be a tight affair but I just think every single one of the lads were incredible.

“To come to a place like this and be able to hold them and keep a clean sheet, it shows a lot.

“When you start digging into teams and see repeatable patterns in the things they do, whether it’s clean sheets or winning games, or scoring goals late, it shows a certain character.

“Credit to the club and the management team to create that because it takes a lot of work and effort.

“I’ve played in teams that have been up the top of the table and my plan here was just to help out and bring a bit of experience to get them over the line in the league.

“The Trophy is a bit of a bonus.

“It can be a funny old game, football.

“It’s been good to me and if I can give a little bit back, then great.”

Church’s winner came at the end housing the vast majority of Sittingbourne’s 866 travelling fans in a crowd of 4,810.

Southend had opened another section at the opposite end of the stadium to meet demand, so nobody missed out.

To score in front of all those fans was a special moment and one that will stay with Church for a long time.

He said: “I scored in a play-off final for Boston many years ago and I said to one of my mates I’ll take my top off if score, as a joke.

“I nearly did it today but I don’t even know what the rules are now.

“If you jump into the crowd and you take your shirt off, you’ll probably get sent off.

View Ian Scammell’s full Southend v Sittingbourne gallery, where pictures are also available for purchase, by clicking here

“I’ve only been here a week or two but that’s incredible if you can try and play a small part in giving the fans a great day out. It’s what football’s about.

“It brings people together, it brings communities together.

“It gives you memories, you win together, you lose together.

“But it’s life and that little bit of life there is something people will hopefully remember for a long time.”

The quarter-final draw takes place at 3.15pm this afternoon.