Saturday night, I sat and watched England host Wales in the Rugby World Cup.

Although they controlled the game throughout, a nervous ten minutes for England was all it took to see the victory slip away.

Similarly, despite dominating in our FA Cup tie against Shortwood United, a shaky ten minutes nearly cost us dearly.

The only difference being that slightly less people were watching.

The game was ours to lose.

Facing lower league opposition at home, the gap in quality was always going to show as long as were mentally prepared and in the first half we were.

Following on from previous home performances, we started with a five-three-two formation.

Captain Darren Pond returned from injury to start in centre midfield whilst Bradley Bubb started upfront after another goal last weekend.

Creating half chances and having the majority of the possession, it was only a matter of time until we hit the back of the net.

The goal coming when Kynan Isaac moved into the area and teased the defender, drawing the foul as the referee pointed to the spot.

Having never missed a penalty and already scoring from the spot this season, it was a surprise I let Bradley Bubb take the spot kick. Good job he scored.

After half time, mistakes crept in and it was hard to tell which team were in the league below.

Shortwood United couldn’t have asked for a better chance to score as they missed an open goal from a close range header.

Soon after, Reece Fleet was saved the blushes, but not the abuse after the game as his short back pass found the feet of the striker.

Somehow despite being through on goal and with the chance to level, the ball slid under the striker’s foot and out of play for a goal kick.

A wake-up call indeed as against better opposition we would have been punished.

Minutes later we sorted ourselves out and extended the lead.

Bradley Bubb turning and driving at the defence before surprisingly setting someone else up for a change.

His delicate through ball found the run of Omari Sterling-James who confidently slotted the ball into the bottom corner.

Two minutes later, the nerves were back as the referee pointed towards the penalty spot again.

From where I stood, it was a soft penalty to award but the player who stepped up confidently struck the ball past Laurie Walker to give Shortwood hope.

Yet with half an hour to go, Omari Sterling-James, the man on loan from Cheltenham scored our third goal of the game.

Bradley Bubb once again with the assist as Omari slotted the ball home to put the game beyond the visitors.

Despite three goals and another penalty, the second half was a poor game of football, summed up by Vinny Mukendi.

Picking up the ball twenty-five yards out and taking a good first touch, he lined up his shot as the defence backed off.

Five seconds later, the corner flag wobbled as his shot nearly went out for a throw in. A moment we won’t be forgetting in a hurry.

Waiting for us in the third round of qualifying is Bognor Regis, who we play on October 10.

Having knocked out Lowestoft on Saturday, the game won’t be easy but I am confident we can go away and get the victory.

Too early to book Wembley tickets?