Ash United 1, Badshot Lea 2

IN-FORM Badshot Lea continued their two-pronged dream assault on Wembley with victory in the FA Vase on Saturday.

Having already made it through two rounds of the FA Cup, the Baggies eased into the second qualifying round of the FA Vase with a 2-1 win at Ash United.

They had to do it the hard way, coming from a goal down after a lethargic opening 35 minutes or so, but do it they did to set up a tie with fellow Combined Counties League Premier Division side Cobham on September 14.

Striker Reece Connolly fired the ball through the goalkeeper’s legs to cancel out United’s shock opener and Stacey Thripp smacked in a beauty to seal the win.

“Saturday wasn’t great,” said Baggies boss Gavin Smith.

“We were awful in the first half. We went 1-0 down and it took us 35 minutes to do anything positive, but the first time we did we scored.

“As soon as we scored I couldn’t see them scoring. We should have scored another four or five in the second half, we were camped in their half.”

The win against gutsy Ash United, who ply their trade in Division One of the Combined Counties League, maintains Lea’s solid start to the season which has seen them move into third place in the league as well as making progress in the two national cup competitions.

And it follows a 5-0 demolition of Camberley Town the previous Tuesday, the second big win at Westfield Lane following a 5-0 thumping of newly-promoted Frimley Green.

“It was important to get that win against Camberley because doing well in the FA Cup and the Vase you can go three weeks without a league game and if everyone is still playing league games and winning you can end up second from bottom of the table by virtue of not playing enough games,” said Smith.

“We’ll be playing catch up in the league as some teams have played six games already, but it’s good to be in the cup competitions because it gives you a bit of a distraction from the league and keeps the games coming.”

Next up in the Vase is that trip to Cobham a week on Saturday after they saw off Polish side PFC Victoria at the Reg Madgwick Stadium.

“Anyone in our league I would expect to give them a good game and on our day be able to beat them, but we can’t just turn up like we did on Saturday and expect to win,” said Smith, who believes a run deep into the competition is far from out of reach following Chertsey’s win last season.

“When I look at teams that have reached the quarter-finals and beyond in the last few years, they are all on a level with us.

“You always get a couple of teams that have massive budgets who should be reaching the later stages, but it’s not beyond us to get that far.”

Badshot Lea: Lunn, Blake, Roberts, Hutchings, Armsworth, Thripp, Cadete, Matthews (Ciardini 71), Connolly (Smith 60), Ford, Lewington (Carter 71). Subs (not used): Pound, Hawker.