Jarrod Bowen admitted that West Ham United were well below their best at Kidderminster Harriers on Saturday, but stuck to the task to eventually earn their reward.
The Hammers were on the brink of suffering a monumental Emirates FA Cup shock when Alex Penny’s first half goal gave the home side a lead they held all the way through to second half stoppage time.
A superb equalising goal from Declan Rice right at the end of regulation time bailed the visitors out, before they left it late again in extra-time to secure victory.
Bowen was the man on the spot to score the crucial second, tapping home Aaron Cresswell’s cross from close range to ensure his side escaped that very real potential shock and progressed to the fifth round.
“Getting through to the next round it the most important thing,” the No20 said. “We were disappointed with ourselves today and we nowhere near at it.
“We know with the levels and the spirit in this group, the character, the desire, we stuck at it and got the goals to come away with the win in the end.”
Bowen, whose 120th minute strike took his season’s tally to double figures, was quick to praise Kidderminster, who made light of the 113 places between the two clubs in the English pyramid to give the Hammers a true scare.
“I thought Kidderminster were excellent today,” he continued. “Their crowd gave the perfect atmosphere for them and that’s what it means to play against a Premier League team.
“I’ve never played against a Premier League team [for a lower league team] but I know what is to be a non-league player and putting yourself out there so to speak.
“Massive credit to them, they were really good but at the end of the day we’re happy to have gone through.”
With a Premier League home match against Watford following on Tuesday, Bowen said it was Important for the Hammers to move on and up their levels once again.
“We don’t want to make excuses for ourselves, we’re professional players playing at a high level and we need to get to our standards where we want to be,” he added.
“Before we scored the second goal, and it was close to penalties which we know is a lottery, it started to feel like it might not come. We had to keep plugging away and maybe get that one chance. Thankfully we did.
“Let’s get back to it and get our levels back up for Watford.”