Manager Ben Smith says Joe Taylor has joined the list of Ramsgate greats after his FA Cup winner at AFC Totton.

Rams’ 1-0 victory saw them emulate Jim Ward’s class of 2005 in reaching the First Round Proper.

Ward was in the crowd at Miller Park on Saturday, as was one of his old players, Stuart Vahid, a key man in the side who went on the cup run and finished the season as Isthmian Division 1 champions.

Local lad Taylor’s 65th-minute lob - having seen a first-half penalty saved - sent Ramsgate through to this afternoon’s First-Round draw and a potential tie against the likes of Derby and Charlton.

Rams boss Smith said: “I said to Joe before the game, as a local lad, this is your chance to put yourself up there with the Warren Schulzes and Stuart Vahids, Ramsgate greats.

“Put yourself up there with those guys who did it nearly 20 years ago.

“What we’ve got to do now is go and win a league as well.

“It was great to see Jim Ward here. He’s Ramsgate royalty in my eyes and he’s as happy as anyone else.

“Some people wouldn’t want you getting through and matching their achievement but Jim couldn’t be happier.

“He’s had one of his contacts come and watch them for us.”

Totton - of Southern League Premier South - became Ramsgate’s third higher-division scalp in this season’s FA Cup, having previously beaten Chatham and Cray Wanderers.

Smith’s side - roared on by hundreds of travelling fans in a crowd of 1,283 - were comfortably the better team in a goalless first half.

They were forced back after Taylor broke the deadlock with his ninth FA Cup goal this season but held their nerve in a terrific rearguard effort, earning £9,375 in prize money.

“It’s certainly up there as my greatest experience in football,” said Smith, who led former club Herne Bay to Isthmian South East play-off glory two seasons ago.

“The scenes at the end there - fantastic. I don’t know the attendance but we took over the ground.

“The FA Cup’s not our priority but every round you go through, suddenly we’re getting more and more supporters, so that can only help us for the league.

“It’s going to build the following for the league games and build interest in the club.

“I’ve said to the players let’s just enjoy it and I think that’s what we’ve done.

“We’ve played three teams in the league above and beaten all three of them and at times we’ve outplayed them as well.

“I thought first half today we outplayed Totton.

“Obviously we scored in the second half and suddenly we sat too deep, so that’s something to look at for next time.

“You’re going to have a painful moment in the game and we certainly had a painful 20 minutes at the end.

“We were asking them to sort the shape out but suddenly they’ve got so many players coming forward. How do you keep your shape with that happening?

“You’ve got to adapt your shape because they’ve got extra bodies forward now.

“Suddenly they’ve got five bodies forward instead of three.

“I thought we didn’t adapt our shape well enough but we threw our bodies on the line and we had that heart which you need in these games.”

Ramsgate’s FA Cup heroics mean they have played just three league games by mid-October.

They face their first Isthmian South East game since August 28 on Wednesday with the visit of Erith & Belvedere.

The Deres are managed by ex-Rams boss Matt Longhurst.

Report: AFC Totton 0-1 Ramsgate

“The league’s never won by anyone at this stage of the season so we can’t worry about it or put pressure on ourselves,” said Smith.

“It’s a 38-game season and we’ve got to average just over two points a game.

“We lost the first game, we didn’t panic then and we aren’t going to panic now having all these games to catch up on.

“Wednesday, yes, it’s going to be a tough game, they’ll be bang up for it.

“Matt was sacked from the club, so he’s going to come with some hostility, but that’s nothing to do with me.

“We just concentrate on what we’re doing, concentrate on our group and go again.”

Ramsgate are closing in on at least one new signing to help with the fixture backlog, with Smith paying tribute to the work of chairman James Lawson in making the club self-sustainable.

“We probably need to sign a couple of players and we have been quietly setting that up in the background, so watch this space,” said Smith.

“There’ll certainly be one very good signing coming in and hopefully we can make it two.

“We’ve got a good squad but it’s going to take its toll so let’s be prepared.

“It’s hard to describe how good the chairman is.

“It’s ridiculous what he does for the football club, and he’s built it so it’s here to last. It’s not just a flash in the pan.

“Obviously everyone says about money.

“Yes, we’ve got a good budget - I never said we haven’t - but you’ve still got to perform with a good budget, and there’s other clubs with good budgets.

“The team we’ve played today have got a good budget.

“Our money is all from the secondary spend we get at the club.

“People don’t realise that. The way James has built it is incredible.

“He’s there, putting the work in. It’s not some millionaire throwing money at it.

“Some of these clubs getting 200 fans a week and having a good budget, that’s not built to last.

“This club, far past my time, is built to last and it will be successful.”