PLAYER-MANAGER Ben Harrison rated Witton Albion's win at Shildon in Tuesday night's FA Cup replay as one of the best of his career.
After throwing away a 3-1 lead in the first game on Saturday, Witton faced a three-hour trip to the north east with a reshuffled side but impressively returned home with a 3-0 success as they became the first side to defeat the Railwaymen this season.
Their reward for a successful 290-mile round trip is an even further journey to higher-division Morpeth Town in Northumberland on Saturday, September 13.
Tom Hoyle (26mins), Adam Bott (33mins) and James Lawrie (65mins) netted the all important goals at Shildon but Harrison, who featured off the bench, was delighted with his entire team which showed four personnel changes in the starting line-up.
"I can't speak highly enough of every individual out there. It was a team performance from the first minute," said Harrison.
"I'm so proud of every one of them.
"I said we had all the excuses in the world to go and lose - only got 11 players really, Tuesday night away game, having to miss work. Or we could say let's get one of the best wins we've had for years.
"And in terms of games I've played in, it's one of the highlights of my career.
"I've played in so many good teams going to places and games like this and just backed down a little bit, but everyone stood up to it and I'm just made up."
He said the prize, the second qualifying round clash away to Morpeth, will be a great motivation for his side.
"A team from a league above, a chance to test ourselves, an away trip on a Saturday which is a lot better than a Tuesday night, so we can look forward to it.
"Morpeth are going to be so tough, it's always a tough place to go. Struggling in the league I think, but you can't read anything into that.
"But it's just a great feeling. Because after the frustration of Saturday when I thought we played well in spells, this makes up for it.
"I'm made up for all the players, fans, everyone associated with the club. It's a really good win."
Witton must dust themselves off and prepare for a quick turn around as they visit Bootle in the FA Trophy first qualifying round on Friday night, kick-off 7.45pm.