BOVEY Tracey booked their place in the FA Vase Third Round Proper with a pulsating 4-3 win over Wessex League Premier side Brockenhurst.
Ollie Aplin netted twice for Bovey, with his second snatching the win as the clock ticked into injury time.
‘[We’re in the hat] and deservedly so,’ said Bovey boss Will Small. ‘We had to go about the game a little bit differently – we couldn’t play as much football as we would have normally liked to do.
‘[Brockenhurst] are a good side and they are young lads who are all technically very good, so we had to go a bit more direct and that tactic worked for us. We went 3-1 up and thought we had the game won, and then two moments of quality from them and they’re straight back in the game. It was nail-biting stuff but I think it was fully deserved.’
Perring talks himself into trouble
The opening exchanges were indicative of an even encounter, with both sides looking to make an early breakthrough. Bovey Tracey’s efforts were hampered a little within 10 minutes as left-back Lewis Perring was sent to the sin bin.
‘We set the tone early with Lewis [Perring] mouthing off, and then there was a knock-on effect with our performance levels all over the park, so if we can get that out of our system and just concentrate on our football, we can cut [the opposition] open,’ said Small.
The Moorlanders nearly saw out the 10-minute personnel disadvantage but were ultimately punished as Oliver Dennett put the visitors in front on 18 minutes with a left-footed effort into the netting behind the far post.
Tom Burt showed the hosts were still well up for the game on the half-hour mark when he arrived at great speed to a delivery that had been hooked back to the edge of the box from the right. His shot was dragged wide.
The Badgers squandered a chance of their own soon after, as Kieran O’Donnell and Sam Wilson charged clear of the defence and bore down on an exposed Dom Aplin, with the former carrying the ball. O’Donnell elected to pass square across the box for Wilson, but Aplin was wise to it and produced a superb reaction stop to keep the arrears at one.
Bovey got the goal they had been threatening on the stroke of half-time. A goal-mouth scramble created all kinds of havoc in the Badgers’ box, and the ball popped up for Lee Hildreth to poke home the leveller.
‘We should have had three’
‘First-half, we should’ve had three goals,’ Small claimed. ‘Burty [Tom Burt] has missed two sitters, and he held his hands up at half-time. His head was down and he was in bits but I kept saying to him, “you’ll take the next chance, keep your head up,” and straight after half-time we stopped playing out from the back, got forward and were more direct to get the ball in behind them.’
Small’s words resonated with the sprightly winger, who put Bovey ahead within four minutes of the restart. A quick break saw Ollie Aplin flick the ball across for Burt, who slammed home a peach of a volley from close range.
The Moorlanders were very much in the ascendency, and five minutes later had doubled the lead. A mouth-watering sequence of passes worked the ball up the pitch on the right flank, and Thomas fired the final ball into the centre for Aplin, who was waiting in the middle. The talismanic striker made no mistake in powering home.
‘We were 3-1 up in no time but then, there was still a long time to go,’ Small explained. ‘With Lee [Hildreth] coming off, we lacked that little bit of organisation and experience and that affected us slightly but we did well and it’s nice to be the underdog and get into the next round.’
Fitness levels began to show as the half wore on, with the Step 5 visitors able to enjoy more of the ball as Bovey moved deep to preserve their energy. Brockenhurst halved the deficit on 70 minutes as Mitchell Speechley-Price beat the offside trap and coolly converted a one-on-one chance.
Five minutes later, it was all square as O’Donnell pulled the Badgers level with a delightful finish into the bottom corner at Dom Aplin’s near post.
Brockenhurst were well on top now, and for the hosts it was a case of absorbing pressure and clearing their lines. The Badgers plundered on, and came agonisingly close to completing the turnaround when captain Brad Magookin struck the right-hand upright with a free-kick from 25 yards.
Aplin snatches it at the death
With a second successive penalty shootout looming for Bovey, Ollie Aplin chased forward and latched onto a long ball into the box. The striker showed immense strength – despite the restless 90 minutes under his belt – and fought off the surrounding defenders before sliding the ball underneath goalkeeper Brad Snelling to record an historic win.
An elated Small said: ’It just shows the character and the team spirit that we have got and the togetherness that’s in the group. We had three unavailable today, and the lads that have come in have done terrific.
‘We’ve patched up the side and we’ve still got a result playing against a team from a higher standard, so everyone’s really happy – we’re buzzing – and we’re looking forward to the draw for the next round.’