Eastbourne Borough manager Garry Wilson says his side are going places this season despite seeing them go out of the FA Trophy on Saturday.

For the second successive season Borough went out of the competition to a Conference side in the third round after Farnborough squeezed through at Priory Lane thanks to a 41st-minute goal by Nathan Bunce.

Last year Wilson's men went down to a 1-0 defeat at Dagenham and Redbridge but the Scotsman insists his charges have come a long way since then.

Wilson said: "This club is really going places. When we played Dagenham at this stage last season it was all backs to the wall, but this time we gave a good account of ourselves and chance wise we edged it.

"It shows how far we have come and how much we have improved and I think any neutrals watching would have struggled to see which one was the Conference side.

"The quality of the players is increasing all the time and I think good things are beginning to happen at this club and hopefully we can keep it going."

Wilson was particularly pleased with the people of Eastbourne who came out in their droves to give Borough their biggest attendance of the season.

"The support was absolutely fantastic, not just for this game but for many league games as well," he said.

"It has been growing steadily this season and we're getting five, six hundred people to watch the league games. Hopefully we did enough to keep a few more of them and it will carry on growing."

Farnborough came to Sussex trailed by the national press after beating Darlington in the FA Cup to set up a fourth round tie against double-winners Arsenal.

But it was the Dr Martens League eastern division side who almost grabbed the headlines as they produced an impressive display.

Farnborough manager Graham Westley said: "I thought they were excellent and a real credit to their league.

"I don't think there is any team who are in the top half of its league that hasn't got a work ethic or organisation and we expected them to work really hard against us and they did that."

The 1,576 supporters saw the home side carve out numerous chances to score and, for large parts of the game, contain their more illustrious opponents.

Mark Goodwin and Scott Ramsay looked lively and had good chances to give Borough the lead in the first half.

Ramsay could have done better with an attempted lob when the game was just two minutes old. The former Albion striker outpaced marker Barry Laker but mis-kicked his shot and the chance was cleared.

Goodwin continued to strengthen his claim for a permanent place in the starting line up with another fine performance.

The young striker exchanged passes with John Westcott on nine minutes and hit a low angled shot which Farnborough keeper Tony Pennock had to stretch full length to stop.

Borough had to wait until the 73rd minute, however, to have their best chance of the match.

Andy Ducille's pass found Matt Smart in space on the edge of the box but his low shot sped inches wide of the upright.

It took a scrappy goal to settle the tie four minutes before half time, scored by defender Bunce who bundled the ball in from close range after a corner by Gary Holloway.

But the goal was surrounded by controversy as Borough keeper Dean Lightwood seemed to be impeded on the goal-line by former Crawley favourite Danny Carroll.

Lightwood was adamant the goal should not have stood.

He said: "The player didn't even look at the ball and made no attempt to get it.

"He could have made an attempt to get to the ball but all he did was get hold of me and I tried to wrestle free. I got one hand on it but I couldn't get enough distance on the punch because I was being held back.

"It proved it to me when they didn't even congratulate the bloke who had put the ball in the back of the net. They actually ran and congratulated the bloke who blocked me instead."

Wilson said: "I was disappointed with the goal. Dean said he was totally held back, but it's all part of the game and there is nothing you can do about it so you just have to get on with it."

Borough: Lightwood, Baker, Tuck, Smart, Price, Westcott, Pearce, Crabb, Ducille, Goodwin (Adams 83), Ramsay. Subs not used: Harris, Longhurst, Austin, Stark.

Farnborough: Pennock, Warner, Bunce, Laker, Holloway, Carroll, Butterworth, Taggart, Vansittart (C. Lee 44), Baptiste (L. Piper 59), C. Piper. Subs not used: Annon, Green, Patterson.

Referee: R. Lee (Brentwood).

Man-of-the-match: Mark Goodwin.

Attendance: 1,576.