A HOME TIE IS A LOT TO ASK FOR LITTLE

WINGATE & Finchley manager Glen Little had double reason to celebrate after dumping Chippenham Town out of the FA Trophy – they were finally handed a home draw in the next round!

“We have spent hours on the motorway for this competition already!” joked the former Reading midfielder.

“The round before last we were drawn against Tiverton so we trekked for five hours down to Devon and then did the threehour trip to Chippenham last weekend so being at home will certainly be a refreshing change.”

Little’s side endured a nerve-wracking final 15 minutes to hold onto a 3-2 victory in Tuesday night’s replay, which set up a tie against Dulwich Hamlet next month.

“Those final few minutes were rather tense because Chippenham were throwing absolutely everything they had at us and we were camped inside our own box a bit,” Little admitted.

“Our keeper made an absolutely brilliant save at the death and it was a joy to hear the final whistle.

“We have now set ourselves up with a game against another National League South side and there is no reason why we can’t go out and create another upset.”

Little originally arrived at The Maurice Rebak Stadium as Nicky Shorey’s assistant in October but has taken over managerial duties in recent weeks following his former Reading teammate’s departure.

“It has certainly been an eventful few weeks with lots of ups and downs” he explained. “It was never really my intention to go into management and I was here to help Nicky out because I had done a bit of coaching alongside Jody Brown at Welling and Heybridge.

“When Nicky left I felt as though it wouldn’t have looked great if I had immediately followed him so I asked the Chairman if he fancied taking a bit of a chance on me.

“The team has been stretched a lot – the other night was the first time that I have been able to name an unchanged team for two games in a row. Now, though, the squad is beginning to fill up and we have a sense of strength and depth.”