Despite both Gillingham and Maidstone United heading into their ties as the underdogs, their managers remain optimistic about causing an upset.
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00:00 And then there were two. Gillingham and Maidstone United enter into the third round of the FA Cup
00:05 as the final remaining sides from Kent, after Ramsgate bowed out of the competition in round two.
00:11 The Gilles secured their place and £67,000 worth of prize money after beating southeast rivals
00:18 Charlton Athletic, and non-league stones became the lowest ranked side still in the competition
00:23 after beating League Two Barrow at home. Now for Maidstone, it's League One opposition
00:28 Stevenage that face them in round three. The last time these two sides faced one another was
00:33 10 years ago when then seventh tier Maidstone pulled off a first round replay shock win.
00:39 It's going to take absolute concentration for however long the game lasts. Our players have
00:46 to be at their absolute best. Plus, we have to limit mistakes. There shouldn't be any margin for
00:56 errors tomorrow. And if we do all the right things on the day, you never know. And a bit of luck
01:00 on our side and our fan base behind us, you never know what can happen in the 95, 96, 97, 98 minutes.
01:10 And it'll be something of a repeat fixture also for Gillingham, who in last year's third round
01:14 took on then Premier League side Leicester City here at home. This year, it's another top flight
01:20 side in the form of Sheffield United, but in order to force a cup upset, they'll be hoping for a
01:26 much different result. Back then, Gillingham were rock bottom of League Two and the match marked a
01:31 huge turnaround for the club. It was the first for new chairman Brad Gallinson, who introduced
01:36 himself and his family to fans on the pitch before kickoff. Now 12 months on and one manager later,
01:43 Gillingham have a chance to pull off a giant killing as the side are in a good run of form
01:47 with 56 shots made in their past three games. I'm not going to come out and say that,
01:55 'Oh yeah, of course we can do it.' It's going to be a difficult game. As I say, we're probably
01:59 going to need a lot of things to go right for us on the day. But look, as everyone always says,
02:04 it's the FA Cup and you do often see upsets in the third round and why can't it be us? There's
02:11 no point in us playing if we're not going to believe that. We've got to go and have a go,
02:15 try and take them on and yeah, let's see where we are come Saturday evening.
02:20 The last major FA Cup upset for Gillingham was in 2019 when they beat Premier League
02:26 Cardiff City 1-0. So with both of our sides boasting a history of achieving great,
02:31 perhaps some FA Cup magic is on the cards this time around. Bartholomew Hall for KMTV.