Dan Lawrence has a shot at FA Vase redemption when Canterbury City host Cray Valley at Salters Lane on Saturday.

Lawrence was in the Herne Bay side which reached the semi-finals seven years ago before being edged out by West Auckland Town.

The first game finished 2-2 at Winch’s Field and Bay then took an aggregate lead in the north-east before losing out 4-3 overall.

“It hits hard when you lose,” Lawrence said. “It was heartbreaking. In the first leg we went 2-0 down so we were lucky to get ourselves back in it and take it up to their place.

“Then we went 1-0 up and no matter how much you try not to dream (about Wembley), you’re thinking ‘just hold on’ but obviously came the heartbreak at the end.

“I was in tears and it was tough to take. I fell out of love with the game over the next six months to a year.

“Then you realise it’s a game and there are more important things in life – but it’s a big part of my life, so it hurts.

“I ran myself into the ground on Sunday because I know that if you walk off with no regrets and you have lost, you can be positive.

“That second leg at West Auckland, I walked off and didn’t feel like I had the greatest game so it hurts a bit more because you don’t feel you’ve given everything.

“I’ll do all I can and I’ll try to get the message across to the other lads that as long as you walk off with no regrets and give it everything, what will be, will be.

“I said to a few of them on the way to Cray Valley ‘it’s not the losing that hurts, it’s the walking off knowing you could have done more.’

“They’re a great side and massive respect to them because they play good football but as long as we give it everything we’ve got, we can walk off with our heads held high.

“A year ago, I did my ACL so I didn’t even know if I’d play again, let alone have another shot at this.”

Lawrence played on the left of City’s midfield at Cray Valley on Sunday as the home side took a 1-0 lead in the tie.

He said: “It’s a bit disappointing because we had chances at the end. I don’t think it would have been unfair if we’d gone back level to the second leg but they’re a good side and they’ll create chances. I think we caught them by surprise and created quite a few.

“We had to set up to stop them because they’re a good side but we do have our attacking threats so when we need to, we can create chances.

“The main objective was to take it into the second leg, make sure we’re in it and then it goes down to one game.

Lawrence said: “We feel comfortable at home and we know we can perform there.

“In the previous rounds, all we wanted was a home draw and even in the semi-final, we wanted an away tie first so we could take them back and have a real go at home.

“Rounds three, four, five and six were all at home so we know we can do it.”