Five-star Bovey ease into FA Vase Second Qualifying Round

OLLIE Aplin’s double put Newquay to the sword on Saturday as Bovey Tracey thrashed their visitors 5-0 in the FA Vase First Qualifying Round.

Bovey led by one at half-time thanks to Aplin’s opener on 30 minutes, but an explosive second-half saw goals from Mitch Thomas, Tom Burt and Brad Crocombe complement a second from Aplin as the hosts put in a five-star performance.

It was Newquay who made the better start. Within 10 minutes, the Peppermints thought they had taken the lead when an acrobatic effort found the back of the net. Celebrations were cut short by the linesman’s flag, which had been raised after a handball in the build-up.

Newquay goalkeeper Harry Ashton, who was the star man when the two sides met in pre-season, made light work of his first test on 16 minutes. Aplin snatched the ball from the defence and laid it off for Crocombe, who was arriving on his left. Crocombe curled an early effort but it never troubled Ashton.

The Moorlanders went ahead on the half-hour mark. Lewis Perring whipped a mouth-watering, early cross in from the left flank for Aplin, who, on his return from injury, wriggled free of his man and headed past Ashton.

The last action of the first-half saw Newquay come inches from equalising. Alex Cole set off on a tricky run down the right wing and cut inside before pulling the trigger from the edge of the box. With goalkeeper Dom Aplin rooted to the spot, the ball curled high but bounced back off the crossbar.

Bovey added a second just six minutes after half-time. Ashton threw the ball out to his centre-half but was forced to scramble back towards his line as Thomas intercepted and executed a deft chip over the retreating gloves-man. Now two goals behind, Newquay looked crushed.

Debutante Sam Chorley had a header blocked off the line 20 minutes from time. A corner was swung in to Chorley, unmarked and around 12 yards out, and he stooped low to head towards goal but it was cleared off the line by a defender with Ashton unable to get across to it.

Aplin netted his second of the afternoon on 76 minutes. A long ball forward found the talismanic striker as he beat the offside trap, and Aplin outmuscled the defenders and coolly slotted home his sixth of the season in all competitions.

The floodgates were now wide open, and, three minutes later, a fourth goal was scored. Crocombe was brought down in the area and referee Andy Glanville pointed to the spot without hesitation. Substitute winger Burt stepped up to the spot kick and duly dispatched it into the bottom-left corner.

Crocombe bagged the final goal of the afternoon on 82 minutes. Wide on the right, he shaped up to fire a cross in for Aplin, but he miscued. Newquay ‘keeper Ashton was caught out by the wayward ball and could not do anything as it sailed over his reach and nestled in the side netting.

Despite missing a golden opportunity to make it six in the dying minutes, the match ended in Bovey Tracey’s biggest-ever winning margin in FA Vase action.

Boss pleased with clean sheet

Upon full-time, Will Small said: ‘I felt we were a much fitter side and we kept the ball on the floor, made them do the work and chase us and I thought we were very good second half. They didn’t have a sniff, really, and they didn’t look like scoring at all [in the] second half and we probably could have had a couple more.’

The win marked Bovey’s first clean sheet in all competitions this term, which Small thinks was a bigger positive than the five goals his side scored on Saturday.

‘The clean sheet is probably more positive – that’s our first one,’ Small explained.

‘We’ve shipped a few [goals] but today, Jed [Roberts] was coming out of the back, he was probably man-of-the-match today. He put his body on the line when he needed to and did things simply.

‘Having Cliff [Walters] back makes a hell of a difference for 90 minutes, Lewis [Perring] was solid and Lawts [Simon Laughton] won all his headers, and Dom [Aplin] at the back was vocal and he caught everything that came into the box.

‘Our midfield three were very good today. They ratted and won us the ball back and Brad [Crocombe] coming back in front of the back four protected well and he did everything simply. It was two new faces in the middle of the park and you wouldn’t have thought that it was their first game for us today.

‘Sam [Chorley] has played for me before and he’s played here before so you know what you’re going to get; he’s box-to-box, he’s going to win headers and he puts his body on the line like other people don’t.

‘Same with Brad. Brad’s played for me before and we introduced him to this level of football to start with and he has come in and do exactly what we thought he would do – he comes in and he breaks up the play and he gives it simple to the players who want to go and play.

‘So, they were really good and another positive is Ollie [Aplin] coming back and obviously Ollie is there to score goals at the end of the day and we’ve missed that in the last couple games.’

Welton await in next round

Bovey Tracey’s victory booked a meeting with Welton Rovers in the Second Qualifying Round. With the tie to be played on the weekend of September 24, Small sees the Vase as an extra-curricular positive.

‘The cup is just a bonus really,’ Small said. ‘It’s a bit more money for the club and a bit more publicity for the club but we will just take each game as it comes and there’s no plan on how far we can go. We’ve got another home draw which is nice.

‘I watched [Welton Rovers] up at Buckland [Athletic] and I think there are areas that we can attack and get at them. Today we had four missing but those lads will be back and in the squad so it’s a chance for us to hopefully get good progress again. We will take each round as it comes.

‘We’re happy to have our names in the hat and it is nice for the club to have something to look forward to.’