With a strong wind at their backs, the men from the island outpaced United right from the first whistle. Make no mistake, this was no “bad luck” day; Sheppey were ultra organised in every aspect of the game, from arrival at the well maintained and run ground, to the well appointed changing rooms and stadium, this looks like a club wanting to go places.

By contrast, United were short on the bench, and had only three substitutes available. A fantastic reaction save from Broadbent kept it from being 2 in three minutes, flowing Sheppeys opening goal in the 4th minute, but even he could not keep out a tight rebound to make it 2-0 on 9 minutes. On the quarter hour it was three nil and United effectively knew they were out of it. Anthony Storey changed the formation, bring Henry Yorke Johnson to right back, the youngster standing up well to the task, and it delayed the 4th goal until the half hour. Shortly before half time, and under constant pressure, the defence was caught out twice through the middle as Sheppey added a fifth and sixth. On the stroke of half time , Koby Farrell lunged just inside the box and was adjudged to have fouled; a penalty for Sheppey and yellow for Farrell. There is no half time talk in the world that can bring you back from 7-0, but to their eternal credit, United came out looking like respectability was on their minds, an early goal being slightly harsh on United as they finally got a couple of shots away; Farrell and Ovenden both testing the home keeper. With just over 10 minutes to go, Tyano Wilson was adjudged to have fouled in the box for a second Sheppey penalty ( subsequent viewing of the footage shows a first class tackle ). Broadbent went full length once again to deny Sheppey, to the applause even of the large home crowd. Late on, yet another 16 year old, Ethan Neves, came on to replace the injured Samways, he didn’t seem to get the memo about pressure and nerves, he just played his game and was frankly excellent, yet another youngster with a future in the game. With the last movement of the game, Sheppey stole the ball to add a ninth.

Can United come back from this to salvage the season? Yes, of course. Sheppey are not only a higher league, they are frighteningly good, whoever gets them in the next round better look out, and United had a terrible day. It was only last season that a top class Premier league team suffered the same indignity; United’s youngsters will do well to remember that and store it away as a salutary lesson.

On Tuesday night United get the chance to start that turn round with a league visit to Crawley Down Gatwick, ahead of a weekend trip to Loxwood in the FA Vase. This is going to be a steep learning curve for United, but don’t be surprised if they come out looking like contenders - there are depths to this team, and one horror day will not be the story.