Badshot Lea 0, Hayes & Yeading 4

BATTLING Badshot Lea’s FA Cup adventure was brought to a shuddering halt at Westfield Lane on Saturday.

But while the step three visitors were clinical in front of goal, they were perhaps a little flattered by such a comprehensive winning margin.

Lyle Della-Verde and James Clark scored in the first half for Southern League Hayes & Yeading while Dylan Switters and Toby Little killed off the tie with two more in five minutes in the second.

They were also denied by the crossbar while Lea shotstopper Kallum Lunn kept his side in it with a string of fine saves.

That said, the visitors rode their luck at times and benefited from several mystifying decisions by referee Alex Blake, not least on the hour, with the Baggies 2-0 down, when Meshach Williams was put through only to have his shirt repeatedly tugged by last man Keano Robinson as he vainly attempted to force his way toward the box.

The referee’s decision not to take action and allow Hayes & Yeading to surge forward after Williams was unable to keep possession rather summed up Lea’s day.

Ten minutes later the game was put out of Badshot Lea’s reach as Robinson’s powerful header crashed against the bar and the rebound was bundled home by Switters.

And 3-0 became 4-0 six minutes later as Little got on the end of a free kick, swivelled smartly and thundered an unstoppable left-footed effort beyond Lunn.

Late efforts from Nic Ciardini and Reece Connolly were saved by the legs of Hayes & Yeading goalkeeper Mark Childs while substitute Mac Ford saw a low effort flash past the post as Lea sought a consolation.

But by then it was too little too late with the real turning point in the game coming on the stroke of half-time.

Trailing 1-0 to Della-Verde’s eighth-minute opener, Lea keeper Lunn made a superb save from Little’s free-kick but the ball wasn’t cleared and Clark slammed in the loose ball from close range.

*Farnham Town stay third in Division One of the Combined Counties League despite conceding an equaliser deep into stoppage time in a 1-1 draw with British Airways at the Memorial Ground.

Jo Sowden had given Town the lead four minutes into the second half before BA’s 97th-minute leveller.

*Alresford Town put the disappointment of last week’s FA Vase defeat firmly behind them by making it six wins out of six with a 5-0 thumping of Hamworthy United at Arlebury Park.

The Magpies opened up a six-point lead at the top of the Premier Divison of the Wessex League courtesy of a hat-trick from Craig Harding and further goals from Craig McAllister and Duarte Martins.

*Alton Town moved up to fifth place in Wessex League Division One with a 1-0 win over Bemerton Heath at The Enclosure, courtesy of a Luke Perkins goal ten minutes into the second half.

* For match reaction from this weekend’s games, see next week’s Herald.