GOAL hero Danny Parish was quick to thank Maldon & Tiptree’s travelling fans who cheered them on to an astonishing FA Cup first round victory at Leyton Orient.

It was a historic day for the club as their first-ever appearance in the first round was capped by a 2-1 win for the BetVictor Isthmian League division north side against their League Two hosts.

Parish’s first-half goal was added to by a strike from Jorome Slew after the break and although Orient got one back and pressed hard in the latter stages, Maldon stood firm for a history-making win.

And the Jammers striker said the noise made by the 657 Maldon fans among the crowd of 3,425 inside the Breyer Stadium had played a significant part in the success.

Parish said: “We just need to take it in and absorb what has happened.

“The fans were unbelievable.

“We were away and our fans were making more noise than the Orient fans.

“That’s incredible and it was brilliant from the boys that we kept the home fans quiet with how we played out there.

“The reactions to us scoring by our fans meant so much to us and whole club.

“It was way bigger than our normal crowd but it made the difference.

“You could tell from my celebration what it meant.

“As soon as I scored, I ran 70 or 80 yards just to celebrate with them.

“I definitely felt it after that celebration, but that’s what it meant to me, to the boys and to the fans.

“It was just unbelievable and it will take a while for this to sink in.”

The 21-year-old striker’s goal took his season’s tally to 16, while Slew’s now stands at 21 and Parish believes the hard work the team are putting in is showing in the success they are seeing this season.

“The boys put in an unbelievable shift out there on Sunday,” he added.

“I felt it when it got to the second half and it was hard.

“You put your work in on the training ground and it shows on the pitch but you can never replicate it in a game like that.

“It’s completely different but the boys handled the situation superbly and we got the results for it.

“We’re mainly just part-time footballers and it shows how hard we worked to get into the position we are in.”

The only down from the day for Parish was as he got sent off in the latter stages of the game.

In the 84th minute, he went down with cramp as he advanced into the Orient box and referee Charles Breakspear booked him as he deemed that it had been simulation.

As Parish had already received a yellow card in the wake of a goal celebration, he was given his marching orders, but he felt it was a harsh decision.

“I was gutted,” he said.

“If I had dived, then fair enough, but I didn’t; I pulled up with cramp and that was why I had gone down.

“As soon as the referee blew his whistle, he looked away and didn’t see me grab my leg and realise that I had cramp.

“Straight away, he reached for the card and there was no changing his mind from there.

“I spoke to the ref and explained and he explained why he had to give me a caution, which was understandable because of what he saw, but I was gutted because it wasn’t simulation.

“I want to score and that’s what I was looking to do.

“If I’m through on goal, I’m going to shoot, not dive on the floor.”