WITHAM Town manager Mark Ashford feels his players have set a benchmark in performance and hopes their FA Trophy win against Coggeshall Town can be the catalyst for success for his team.

A preliminary round tie at AFC Dunstable was set up on Friday, October 12 by Witham with a 1-0 win at the Village Glass Stadium last weekend and boss Ashford was rightly enthused by his side's display against a team who they had been unable to beat in three previous meetings in the early part of the season.

L'Heureux Menga's strong play set up the chance and Danny Norton drilled the ball over the line to earn a memorable victory for Witham and Ashford feels his players can use that game as a reference point for future success this year.

Witham return to Bostik League division north action on Saturday as they welcome one of Ashford's former clubs - Bowers and Pitsea - to the Village Glass Stadium (kick-off 3pm) and with his team sat second from bottom in the table, he hopes they can now kick on from the victory against Coggeshall.

“As a group, our players have seen what happens when they don’t perform, but now they have seen what happens when they do," said the Witham boss.

“They are starting to realise from the three really good cup performances we've had this season, and especially this one, how they need to prepare and how their mindset has to be compared to what it was like in the more disappointing games that we’ve had – like the one against Bury in the league.

“They are starting to have games with great reference points and knowing what they need to do to get these results.

“Beating Coggeshall has given them a lot of belief because it was not a backs to the wall job.

“We were the better team in the first half; we created more chances and played the better football.

“In the second half it was more even and then after we scored, the last ten minutes we were hanging on a bit more as they threw everything at us and we were throwing bodies on the line, but we deserved it.

“It was a timely performance and one that we will hopefully look back on as a significant moment in the season.

“I’m hoping it will be a catalyst for where the team is going in the future.

“We have set a benchmark now and it is something that we have to aspire to in each and every game now.

“We have done well in three cup games and in one league game out of the ten that we have played so far and we have to make that seven or eight out of ten rather than four.

“We have talked about it with the players and they know we need to do that.

“The players learned they could compete on an even footing with a team with big resources and could beat them."

Following the encounter with Bowers & Pitsea on Saturday, Witham head to Maldon & Tiptree in the Velocity Cup on Tuesday.