It took 150 minutes across two games, but finally the gulf in class between Charlton Athletic and Cray Valley Paper Mills showed.
At half-time on Wednesday night, the 1,500 fans crammed here into The Artic Stadium thought they were about to witness the greatest FA Cup shock of all time.
Just like in the original tie, the two sides were locked at 1-1 after Cray Valley winger Kyrell Lisbie’s penalty cancelled out Alfie May’s opener.
What followed after the break, however, was a clinical performance that underlined why there are 116 league places between these two sides.
Charlton swiftly scored three goals in the space of nine minutes and eventually finished the match as 6-1 winners.
“My players worked all day today,” said Cray Valley manager Steve McKimm. “Charlton Athletic weren’t working today, trust me!
“My players worked all day and got here after finishing at 4.30pm, 5pm. They were going out there, chasing shadows at times, but the most pleasing thing was we got a goal for our fans to cheer about.”
The memories from Cray Valley’s Cup run will live long in the memory, but the hope is something tangible can come from it too.
Last night was their 10th FA Cup game of the season and it is expected this run will bank them as much as £100,000, and even more when the TV money from the BBC lands.
For a club playing in the Isthmian League South East, the eighth tier of English football, such an influx of cash is vital.
“For us to get promoted we need a few things done to this ground,” said McKimm. “Once that money goes into that and is invested into that, we should be up to scratch and if we do get promoted then we can go straight up, no problem.”
Cray Valley usually draw crowds of 150 for their games, but the club hope this run will “put them on the map” and boost attendances.
They are back in cup action again on Saturday and can pull off an upset against Hampton & Richmond Borough in the second round of the FA Trophy, who are two tiers above Cray Valley in the football pyramid.
“I have just said to the players that I am not going over old ground now,” said McKimm. “That’s our story finished, that’s our cup run finished, now we look forward to the FA Trophy and league.”
