Cambridge United finally swept Stafford Rangers aside at the third time of asking with an emphatic 5-1 win in the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round replay at the Abbey Stadium.
After a 1-1 away draw in the league two and a half weeks ago and last weekend's 1-1 draw in the cup, United rediscovered their goalscoring touch in front of the home crowd and eased into the FA Cup First Round Proper and a home tie against Aldershot Town a week on Saturday.
Manager Jimmy Quinn was understandably delighted with the performance, and especially the impact of Yeovil loanee Darryl Knights who came into the side in place of injured captain Danny Brown. He scored two second half goals playing just behind the front two of Scott Rendell and Lee Boylan (recalled in place of Leo Fortune-West) who both also scored.
"I thought we played excellent tonight," he told the media. "We put little Darryl in there to play in the hole and he's caused them all kinds of problems. I should have put him in there Saturday, shouldn't I!
"I thought it was an excellent performance. I'm a little disappointed with the goal we conceded, we could have defended it a lot better, and we let their guy get the cross in too early. Overall though, the game plan worked, we played three upfront, scored goals and created chances."
Boylan, Rendell and Rob Wolleaston had fired United into a 3-0 half-time lead, and although Kevin Street scored for Stafford in the 63rd minute, Knights (above) notched in the 70th and 82nd minutes to extend United's advantage.
"To come in at half time 3-0 up, sometimes it's hard for the lads to keep a good tempo in the second half but I thought we kept it going and created a lot and could have scored a lot more," added Quinn.
"We defended well, we went forward in numbers and totally deserved to win.
"If Darryl had scored that one at the end it'd have summed up the night it was a great move, one touch football and if he'd scored that it'd have brought the house down.
"It's got us through to the next round, a home tie, and set us up nicely for Saturday. I believe Torquay's next game after us is on the telly and they might have one eye on that. It's a good challenge for our lads; if we go there and get a good result then hopefully that'll give us the confidence to believe we're one of the better sides in this league."
Quinn closed with praise for the supporters, saying, "I thought the fans were tremendous again tonight. The fans are a vital part of the team they've stuck with us. We've had one defeat in 19 matches and that's down to everybody - the fans and the players, the staff and the togetherness, the army camp last week, it all comes into play.
"We've had a few draws recently but hopefully that win tonight will give the lads the belief they can go on and win more games."
Interview transcript by Will Jones
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