Harrow Borough performed "beyond expectations", says manager Steve Baker, after his side exited the FA Cup to 2008 winners Portsmouth.
Marcus Harness scored the only goal of the game in the first half following good work from Mahlon Romeo to send Pompey into the second round at Fratton Park on Saturday.
Baker was extremely proud of his squad for reaching that stage and for putting in a strong effort against the League One side.
“The experience has been top draw, even if you take the result out of it, the whole journey of getting there was brilliant, but to top it off, to go to Fratton Park in front of 7,000 people and to perform the way we did was beyond what I even expected,” Baker said.
“I couldn’t have been prouder of the effort that we put in and I don’t think we could have done anything different if I'm honest.
“My only disappointment on the day was one or two of the decisions from the officials, we knew we weren’t going to get much, but the goalkeeper has handballed it twice on the way out and the way back in.
“It’s a deliberate handball, which is a red card, and that changes the game massively. We would have changed our shape earlier. It could have been different, we didn’t get anything.
“The only thing you normally ask is that they get the big decisions right, I'm not suggesting that’s why we lost the game, apart from that disappointment I couldn’t have asked for anything more.
“It was an unbelievable experience that will give us memories forever.”
The boss now wants to build on that momentum as they return to FA Trophy and league action.
“Momentum, we’ve had it for the last 16 games and that’s including Saturday as we won 13 and lost three, one of those was against a League One side.
“All we said to the boys is what you don’t want to do is finish this fairytale cup run then let it slide.
“You don’t want to slip back down to the mid-table, we’ve got to grasp what we’ve achieved, and see where that can take us.
“I’d like to make one addition to the squad, we’ve got a couple coming back from injury, and if we can keep everyone fit and keep playing the way we are I want us to kick on.
“We’re sitting fifth at the minute and I want us as a club to now make the most of that.”
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