THE joint manager of Littlehampton Town FC has said the credit goes to his pal who scored two crucial goals in their semi-final clash to send them to Wembley.
Striker George Gaskin, 31, scored within 36 seconds against Loughborough Students in their 4-0 romp in front of more than 3,000 fans at the Littlehampton Sportfield in St Floras Road.
The victory makes Littlehampton Town FC the first ever team in Sussex to go to Wembley as part of the FA Vase, a cup which 638 teams enter.
He is in a player manager role while his “best friend” Mitchell Hand, 29, prefers to stick to the technical area.
Asked where the credit lies, Marigolds manager Mitchell Hand said: “To be fair, George played and scored two goals so I think he has to take the credit for this one.
“But no, between us we’re joint managers and best friends, we do it completely 50/50 and the hard work and effort we have to put in, it’s all day and every day we’re thinking about the next game.
“We’re thinking about what we can do to help the players, help the squad win games. I look at the coaching staff, you have myself and best friend as managers. You have my brother as assistant manager and one of our best friends as a coach as well.
“It genuinely is an absolute dream what is happening now, it doesn’t make sense at all but we are where we are because we have worked so hard.”
Mitchell Hand said that experienced players like Gaskin are important for big games. Littlehampton will have plenty coming up as they look to maintain their position at the top of Southern Combination Football League Premier, which is the ninth tier of English football.
He added: “With George, you would probably struggle to find someone who has scored more goals than him in the division we’re in over the last 10 years. He is one of the top strikers to come out of this area.
“The fact is he scored the winner in the quarter-final, two goals in the semi-final.
"You wouldn’t put it past him scoring the winner in the final. He’s a big game player.”
Littlehampton Town’s cup journey started back in October in the first round where they beat Moneyfields 3-2. Since then, the Marigolds have edged past Deal Town and Sheppey United 2-1 and 1-0 respectively.
They lost 5-0 away to London-based Newham on January 15, but were reinstated after the home side fielded an ineligible player.
Littlehampton Town beat Brockenhurst 4-1 in the fifth round on penalties after a 3-3 draw in normal time on February 12. The quarter-final saw them beat North Shields after a late winner 79 minutes in on March 12.
Littlehampton will play Newport Pagnell Town FC on May 22 at Wembley Stadium.
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