Bury Town determined not to make Banbury United their journey's end in the FA Cup with first round proper looming
Bury Town stand tantalisingly 90 minutes away from being part of the magic of the Emirate FA Cup’s First Round Proper televised draw ahead of tomorrow’s tie at higher-league Banbury United (3pm).
And having reached the fourth round himself as a professional and third round as a non-league player, manager Ben Chenery will urge his players not to let this one slip them by.
“My message to the players is to go express yourselves and go and win, simple as that,” he said ahead of the fourth round qualifying tie in Oxfordshire.
“We are probably not going to get another opportunity like this, some of them may never get another opportunity in their football careers to be this close to the first round. So it is making sure there are no regrets, making sure that we are on the front foot.
“We have got to enjoy the experience, yes, but to come this far with a chance of making the first round proper is a huge opportunity for the players and the football club.
“It is a great achievement to get to where we have but we don’t want the journey to end here.”
He felt their run of matches, having knocked out higher-league Nuneaton Borough at Ram Meadow last Tuesday, caught up with them as they exited the Buildbase FA Trophy with a 1-0 defeat at Loughborough Town on Saturday.
So he was grateful to the Pitching In Isthmian League for approaching them to offer to postpone their derby at AFC Sudbury, which was due to take place on Wednesday. It would have denied them a training session ahead of the FA Cup tie, but he said they will now be raring to go.
“I just felt on Saturday the tank ran out after Nuneaton on the Tuesday so it has been a great time for us to recover and thank you to the league for a good decision,” he said.
“It was probably one game too many in a really condensed period of football on Saturday where we were resilient until the 88th minute.
“I’ve no complaints though, it wasn’t our best display but it certainly allowed us to re-evaluate, re-set and be ready for this up and coming game.”
Banbury (15th) go into the tie off the back of a 6-1 defeat at Southern League Premier Central leaders Coalville Town on Saturday.
“I don’t know whether it is a good or bad thing when teams lose like that,” said Chenery.
“I think that they are wounded and it has given them a re-set to get back to their values and basics and they are a good team. “They will be really tough opponents, especially as they are at home.”
Connor O’Riley (hamstring), Ryan Jolland (groin), Joe White (ankle) and Ryan Horne (knee) are all rated as doubtful, with the latter two having returned from their injuries with some game time for the under-23s on Monday.
There will be £9,372 in prize money available for the winners tomorrow, and chairman Russell Ward said reaching the first round proper would ‘probably give us a boost for months’.
He said they had to carry out a ballot for season tickets holders flooded their email inbox within an hour of their 90 allocation of tickets - of a pandemic restricted 600 capacity - being announced as on sale.
"I think Saturday, even though we are underdogs we have got a chance," he said.
The last time a Bury reached this stage of the competition was in 2012/13 when Richard Wilkins’ side they lost 3-1 at Dorchester Town. They last made the first round proper under the same manager in 2008/09 when they lost 4-2 at Alfreton Town.
Chenery’s side (9th with two wins from two and games in hand) return to North Division action by hosting current 14th-placed side Felixstowe & Walton United at home on Tuesday (7.45pm) in what is another 400 pandemic-restricted capacity all-ticket sellout.
Having been placed in the same Velocity Trophy (Isthmian League Cup) group as them last season, they enjoyed four wins from four against the Seasiders, but the Blues boss is expecting a tougher challenge this time round.
"I think they are a better team this season with a better squad," he said.
"We did have a lot of joy against them but it will be a tough game off the back of Saturday's fixture with tired legs and minds. But it is really important for us."
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