BRACKNELL Town will need to catch out cricket star Dan Lincoln if they are to make further progress in the FA Trophy, writes Dave Wright.

The big-hitting Finchampstead and Berkshire batsman plays in goal for Bognor Regis Town, who will be the Robins’ opponents at Larges Lane in the first qualifying round on Saturday, October 27.

Lincoln, who was on Reading FC’s books as a youngster, is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the Bostik League, although Bracknell fans will argue their No. 1, Mark Scott, is not far behind him.

Both sides are currently unbeaten and lie third in their respective divisions, with Lincoln having conceded 12 goals in 10 Premier games, while Scott has let in only three goals in seven South Central matches.

It will be Bracknell’s second successive tie against Sussex opponents, having won 3-2 at Haywards Heath in the preliminary round last Saturday after the hosts had rocked the Robins with two late goals.

“We got the right result in the end, but only just,” commented player-manager Carl Davies.

“It was a very one-sided game for nearly 80 minutes, we were absolutely cruising and should have scored six or seven.

“They had a massive striker (Melford Simpson) around 6ft 5in tall. He was a real handful and got in a header to make it 3-1.

“We then dropped deep and invited them on, which wasn’t probably the best thing to do. They scored again and in the end, we were holding on.

“If we had drawn it would have been a travesty as we were so dominant for most of the game. We definitely deserved to win.”

Davies had left himself out of the starting line-up, instead putting himself on the sub’s bench where he stayed all afternoon.

He explained: “I wanted to get our skipper Dave (Hancock) back in the side and two other lads (Matt Day and Joe Gater) had played well in our 5-0 win at Ashford and deserved to keep their shirts, so I decided to sacrifice myself.

“To be honest, I enjoyed it on the bench – and was happy to sit there.”

Davies was pleased to see his side get back to winning ways following their disappointing 1-1 home draw with Bedfont Sports the previous week.

“That was my first draw as a manager and after it, I got a few texts from supporters,” added Davies, who has yet to lose a game since being appointed player-manager in February.

“We have raised the bar so high, anything other than a win for us is now being deemed as a bit of a failure, which shows the standard we have set ourselves.”

Bracknell will be looking for six more points when they visit Uxbridge this Saturday (3pm) and host Egham next Tuesday evening (7.45pm).