Cowan wants impressive Trophy win to be a 'catalyst' for Brackley

The Saints held their nerve from the spot, securing a shootout success after an entertaining 3-3 draw in normal time of the Isuzu FA Trophy third round clash last Saturday.

Brackley had looked set to progress without drama when they went 3-2 up with 16 minutes to go, but Boreham Wood, who are fifth in the National League, kept battling to take the tie to penalties.

It was Cowan's side who prevailed though, crowning a good day overall with the sweet taste of victory.

Brackley can now look forward to a trip to Southern League Premier South side Walton & Hersham in the fourth round on the weekend of January 10.

"I feel as though it (the win at Boreham Wood) was thoroughly deserved," Saints boss Cowan said.

"You come here and expect Boreham Wood to be a very fluent footballing team and sometimes if your ego gets involved you want to go chasing and getting after them, but I just think they're too good for us to do that.

"So we had a bit of a game strategy to be really difficult to beat, it's obviously a bit more complicated than that, but that was the aim.

"We wanted to have quality in the transition and we probably haven't been that good in the transition for some time, but I thought we were excellent.

"There was lots of focus and concentration to deal with their fake shots and reverse passes, interchange and they're a real pleasure to watch. If I wasn't the opposing manager, I'd really enjoy being a Boreham Wood supporter at this time.

"For me, I just felt like it was an excellent performance full of endeavour, hard work, desire, grit, determination and that's all you ask as a manager.

"We were disappointed not to have won it in normal time, but to win the penalty shootout, congratulations to Cam Gregory, who has been patiently waiting for his opportunity, and he made two big saves for us. He also made a phenomenal save in open play to touch it onto the bar, so we're pleased.

"From this game as a whole, we can take a lot of belief, real buoyancy to go on and be brilliant in the league now.

"It was a full strength Boreham Wood team who are one of the best, if not the best, in the league in terms of the way they play. We'd love to evolve to that at some point.

"We combatted it, we did it brilliantly.

"In a boxing match, there's two very different styles, and we managed to come out on top."

Brackley are now preparing to host Morecambe in a National League clash on Sunday (kick-off 12pm).

And Cowan said: "I'm really pleased with the players. They showed they want to play for the football club and the badge, which I've always known they have.

"It was a good start to the season that petered out and the lads are under no illusions now that they need to perform and be at that level. If we're at that level, we're going to win games in the league.

"We've got a really hectic schedule coming up so we're going to have to take points.

"What's important is to zoom out because a year ago we would have cut our arms off to be in this position.

"Now going into mid-December, we've got a lot of time to get it right.

"We haven't been blown out of the water by anyone and we've been through a difficult period so I hope the players kick on now.

"We know how much of a big game Morecambe is.

"Everyone's ready to kick on and we want to use what happened against Boreham Wood as the catalyst to do that."