CANVEY Island manager Danny Heale was in the crowd when the club famously won the FA Trophy in 2011 – now he wants his current crop of players to taste some success in the competition themselves.

Although Canvey’s odds of winning the competition are somewhat longer than when they were flying high at the top of the non-league game in the early noughties, the Gulls will be hoping to make progress in the competition when they start their campaign at home to Leatherhead tomorrow.

And Heale says he can sense a similar sense of excitement around the club to the one experienced by the Gulls heroes from the club’s glory days thanks to their FA Cup run which so nearly saw them land a plum tie against Preston North End.

That dream ticket was ripped up when Canvey lost 3-0 to Havant & Waterlooville in their replay on Tuesday night, but Heale hopes the interest in the club that has been sparked over the past week can carry over into tomorrow’s game.

“There has definitely been a buzz around the club in the past week and it has felt a bit like the good old days,” he said. “ With us being in the First Round draw live on BBC2, it has given the club a bit of publicity again.”

“I went to the final we won against Hednesford at Villa Park when I was a young lad and it was a great day,” said Heale.

“And as a manager of the club, you see all the pictures of the players celebrating that Trophy success in the clubhouse and you are aware of the club’s history in the competition.

“But as a manager you want to win every game, whatever the competition.

Heale says it would be not fair to compare his team to the great Canvey teams of the past.

“It’s hard for us at the moment,” he said. “We’ve got no chairman and the FA Cup run has come in handy.

“We went out to Havant and their wage bill is probably five or six times as much as what ours is.

“That’s not taking anything away from them, they are a very good side and deserved to go through, but that’s the situation.

“Our chance to beat them came in the first game at home last Saturday and I thought we more than held our own against them then, but they are a class act.”

Tomorrow’s opponents Leatherhead won’t be quite as strong as Havant who are sitting pretty towards the top of the Conference South table.

The Tanners sit just three points behind Canvey in the Ryman Premier table and held the Gulls when the two sides met at Park Lane in the league in September.

“We had two men sent off that night and it wasn’t even a dirty game,” recalled Heale. “We were 1-0 up and then our goalkeeper had a bit of a horror show to concede late on to give them a draw.

“So they were a bit fortunate but we won’t be taking them lightly and it’s my job now to make sure the players get Tuesday night’s game out of their system and are ready for tomorrow.”

Heale hopes John Sands’ hernia problem will have eased enough for him to start while new signing Harrison Tweddell could also feature up front.

The Canvey boss is also looking to bring in two players over the next 24 hours to freshen up his side after a hectic period of games.

EAST THURROCK AND BILLERICAY FACING TOUGH ROAD TRIPS IN THE TROPHY

EAST Thurrock United and Billericay Town have both been handed tough tests away from home in the FA Trophy tomorrow.

Rocks go to Southern Premier League side Hungerford Town while Billericay make the trip to Ryman Premier rivals Met Police.

Neither Hungerford nor Met Police have been beaten at home this season.

East Thurrock will make the trip to Berkshire to take on Hungerford still on a high from making the FA Cup First Round.

They found out they would be taking on Hartlepool in Billericay Town’s clubhouse on Monday night before the two sides met in the Essex Senior Cup which Town won 2-0.

That win gave Craig Edwards’ (inset) side a much-needed boost after a stretch of four games without a win.

They will be hoping to take that confidence into tomorrow’s trip to Met Police who have won seven and drawn two of their home games this season.

But Billericay did give them a tough game when they visited at the start of the month, only conceding  late goal as the hosts won 2-1.

In Ryman Division One North tomorrow, Great Wakering Rovers host Redbridge knowing a win would propel them above their visitors in the league.