Great Wakering boss Bowers delighted but will not get carried away

A last gasp header from Perry Dunn secured Wakering a 3-2 win and a place in the quarter-finals.

But Bowers wants Rovers to maintain their focus.

“It’s been a mad 24 hours and certainly something I’ll never forget but we still have a long way to go,” said Bowers.

“We still have extremely tough hurdles to overcome so it’s time to get our heads down and back to league and local cup action.

“We will then think about the next round in a couple of weeks time.”

Wakering will host Falmouth Town in the quarter-finals on Saturday March 9.

And Bowers is delighted to have made it through.

“The feelings at the end were all over the place,” said Bowers.

“I was relieved, drained and buzzing.

“It was a complete rollercoaster for the whole game and even now it’s only just sinking in.”

But Bowers also stressed the victory was far from straightforward.

“It was, as we expected, a really tough game and in all honesty it was quite scrappy in stages but I think it was a proper cup tie,” said Bowers.

“We dug deep and I think our togetherness is what got us over the line as it looked destined to go to penalties.

“To win was so pleasing but the lads really deserved it.

“They did everything we asked of them and they never ever gave up.”

Kingdom Dawson and Harry Talbot had twice put Wakering in front before Dunn’s late winner.

But Wakering now face a busy fixture list, starting with tonight’s Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy clash at Buckhurst Hill.

“With our Vase run so far and of course the recent weather it’s given us a backlog of games so between now and the quarter final we have a fair few games to fit in,” said Bowers.

“We are fully focused now on preparing for our cup game on Tuesday night against Buckhurst Hill.”

Wakering are also still in the race for a play-off place in the Essex Senior League.

Bowers’ side sit eighth in the standings but have games in hand on all of the teams above them in the table.