THE magic of the FA Cup brought out a bumper crowd at St George's Lane on Monday night and gave us all a glimpse of just what a big club Worcester City could be.

Matches like that are what any player or manager wants to be part of and after the draw on Saturday we said if there were any doubts about the size of this football club then the turn-out for the replay would be a reminder.

As it was I don't think anybody would have predicted the crowd would be as high as it was.

It was a bit like the old days and the crowd of nearly 2,500 produced a fantastic atmosphere.

From a football point of view the result was the most important thing and we put in a much better display in the replay than we did on Saturday.

They say that matches can turn on a decision and I think we had one on Saturday when Belper had a penalty refused which would have put them up with just 10 minutes to play.

Having said that we felt aggrieved at Phil Stant's goal being disallowed so these decisions tend to even themselves out.

We certainly rode our luck though and were given anther chance and produced a much better first-half performance which was more positive and committed.

On Saturday we sat back too much and surrendered possession too easily.

We moved Jon Holloway to right back after Marc Burrow endured a tough time on Saturday and he did an excellent job for us.

I think the disappointing thing, and it is nit-picking bearing in mind we are in the first round with a good home draw against Football League opposition, was that we didn't keep a clean sheet and keep going for the full 90 minutes.

At 92 minutes it was 3-1 and they then missed an excellent opportunity which was disappointing for us.

The media were out in full on Monday night and as a manager the most rewarding thing is to see players like Carl Heeley and Phil Stant enjoying the big occasion.

In between applying for numerous jobs, Phil is doing a brilliant job for Worcester while Carl has probably been the most consistent player since I've arrived at the club.

There are still things he needs to improve on but its good that he's lifted the Dr Martens League Cup and he has the opportunity to play in a big FA Cup tie against Rushden & Diamonds.

This Saturday it's the FA Trophy against Mangotsfield United and, as much as the FA Cup is the greatest competition we're never going to win it, but the Trophy is one we have a realistic chance of winning.

On Tuesday its back to Dr Martens Premier action with a difficult away trip to Crawley Town who went top on Saturday.

They are a strong side and I've always felt that one season they could seriously threaten or even win the championship.

I think if they can stay top for a period of time we will see them put in a sustained effort to achieve Conference football and it makes them very formidable opponents.