Yellamen ease into next round with 2-0 win in South Bristol
Ascot United overcame Toolstation Western League Division One outfit Hengrove Athletic on Saturday afternoon to book a Buildbase FA Vase second qualifying round tie at Tadley Calleva in two weeks’ time. After dominating, the visitors finally broke the deadlock through Keaton August’s strike in first half injury time, before Harry Laflin kept up his fine scoring form with a second-half header.
It was pretty much one-way traffic in the first half against a side struggling near the foot of their league – one step lower than Ascot – so it was to their credit they almost held out for 45 minutes.
Josh Masters saw an early shot well-saved, Ian Davies then struck a post and Laflin’s effort was cleared off the line, but it was Masters who turned provided in first half stoppage time when his excellent cross was converted by August at the far post.
Red-hot-striker Laflin nodded Ascot into a 2-0 lead from Sean McCormack’s assist six minutes after the restart and despite plenty of further chances and a numerical advantage when Pete Shepherd and Jackson Brown were sin-binned for the hosts late-on, there would be no further goals.
The victory was also a fine end to Director of Football Neil Richards’ week having cycled to Bristol from Weybridge via Oxford in aid of Cancer Research. Neil’s fundraising page can be found at https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/neils-cycle-300-giving-page-6.
Ascot United: Gray, Lock, Masters, Ferguson (Scott), Bailey, Ellis, McCormack, Denton, Davies, Laflin (Graham), August (Surpanu). Sub unused: Sykes
