A memorable week for Saffron Walden Town lived up to all the hype.

It began with a 1-0 victory away to Tring Athletic in the FA Vase, taking them to a last 32 meeting at home with Loughborough Students on January 15.

And this was a thoroughly deserved victory.

The only goal arrived in added time at the end of the first half. Walden robbed the hosts in the midfield before attacking quickly, Gavin Cockman finishing off the move.

They had dominated possession up to that point and looked dangerous going forward.

That didn't change too much after the break either, even though Tring did improve, with Walden able to close the game out in relative comfort.

But there was no time to truly celebrate as preparations instantly turned to a famous trip to the JobServe Community Stadium and an Essex Senior Cup tie against Colchester United.

And for a long time they were on for a famous result too, only down by the odd goal in three heading into the final 20 minutes, Scott Piggott scoring for Walden from the penalty spot in the first half.

Tiredness kicked in after that though and they finished on the end of a 6-1 loss but there was still plenty for boss Jason Maher to be proud of.

Speaking to the club's social media he said: "For 70 minutes we were well in the game but we had to make some subs, a few of the players were heavy-legged from Saturday, and changing three of the back four didn’t help.

"I was disappointed with the last 20 minutes. [The final score] wasn’t a fair reflection of how much we put into the game, how hard we worked, how good we were defensively and how good our shape was.

"I’m disappointed but this is a good learning curve for us, playing against some very good players.

"I’m very proud of the players and their efforts. They were superb."

He now hopes they can take the lessons learned and put them towards their main goal of the season - winning promotion from the Essex Senior League.

He said: "Collectively we have learnt some valuable lessons which will hopefully stand us in good stead for the rest of the season.

"We’ll regroup and be fully focused for Saturday at home to Cockfosters, which is a really important game.

"Promotion is what we spoke about at the start of the season and we’ve left a few points out there in the first half of the year so we need to bounce back quickly."