With sides in the two divisions directly above the Bulls in the draw for the next round, Freeman refused to be drawn on who he would like to play – but was clear on where he wanted the match to take place.
‘I’m sure there’ll be a lot of excitement waiting for that draw and we’ll all be holding our fingers crossed so we can get a home one,’ he said.
‘The away games are great but it’s a long old day. We’ll fill Springfield with a 1,000 people if we’re at home, and I’d love to go a few more rounds.’
Luca Margaroli and Luke Campbell were both on the score sheet on the south coast on Saturday, alongside Sol Solomon, who bagged an outstanding double, but Freeman was quick to praise an opposition who made his side’s life difficult for well over an hour.
‘It was nice to have a team that really came at us and you could tell their intention was to cause us a problem, and press us high. It made for a great game and a good one to watch,’ he said.
‘Refreshing is probably the right word. We’ve had a real team, toe-to-toe and we got a couple of goals at the end which maybe flattered the scoreline because they were very much in the game.’
Euan Van Der Vliet’s penalty save from Ian Robinson just after the break proved a crucial moment as the Bulls added their second not long after, and Freeman acknowledged his goalkeeper’s contribution as being key.
‘Obviously the penalty save was massive. To be fair to them, they’ve come out at the start of the second half just as they did the first and we were struggling a little bit,’ he said.
‘They put a bit of pressure on and got the penalty and, if that goes in, you know it’s going to be a difficult afternoon and last half hour.
‘But Euan’s made a great save and Sol’s shown his quality with a bit of magic to bring it down and finish nicely. Goals change games, as they say, and they’ve missed their chances and we’ve taken ours.
The manager was impressed with his side’s appetite to keep playing to the end, Kamen Nafkha epitomising the Bulls’ work ethic with a typically combative performance.
‘We talk about it in training all the time and do it when nobody is watching us to have that desire to want the ball. That’s what we train to do, so why wouldn’t we do it on a Saturday? Our sessions are very competitive, and are at a tempo.
‘Today we saw Kamen’s natural game. He can play in that six or eight role. In that last 15 minutes, he said he’s done and I asked him to sit but then he’s in the final third over the other side. He’s got a great engine.’
