BRAD Quinton wants to harness the momentum that Braintree Town have kept going with their FA Cup replay win at Royston Town.

The Iron won 2-1 in their second qualifying round replay at Royston on Tuesday and their manager was pleased to see his team step up after being disappointed with how they had performed in their first meeting last weekend.

He feels a cup run can be important in lifting a team - especially a newly-formed one as Braintree are this year - and is delighted that his side are the ones who will be going forward to face Brackley Town in the third qualifying round on September 30.

Quinton said: “With the football we played in the first half (at Royston), I felt we were back to our best.

“It was exceptional.

“I’ve witnessed good cup runs with this club as a player and I want that to filter through to these boys.

“It is the best cup competition.

“A good cup run just echoes what we are doing in the league.

“We need to carry that on.

“We are a complete brand new squad and to be in the next round of the cup is massive for this club.

“We deserved it as a team and we look forward to going to Brackley.

“They are a side who are in a similar position in their league to what we are in ours so it will be a good game for a neutral.

“We’re looking forward to it and you could see from that first half that we play some very good football at times.

“We let ourselves down a bit with the way we let them back in the game with a silly sending off but all that matters is that we are in the hat.

“We scrapped it out as we had a man less for a long time and credit must go to my boys as they worked really hard.

“We’ll go out on Thursday night and have a nice meal together and we’ll speak collectively about what we need to do to improve and learn from our mistakes.

“But overall, we have a fantastic squad and the boys who came in did a great job.

“The key thing is to stay level-headed and get minds back on the league now.”

Braintree return to Vanarama National League South action on Saturday when Hungerford Town visit the IronmongeryDirect Stadium (kick-off 3pm).