Blazey breeze through in FA Vase following away victory in Bristol

ST BLAZEY showed the confidence which comes with a long unbeaten run as they swept aside Longwell Green on their 3G pitch on Saturday to progress to the second round of the FA Vase.

After a goalless first half, the Green and Blacks broke the deadlock two minutes into the second half through Harry Blows, who had replaced the injured Teigan Rosenquest immediately after the break.

And they doubled their lead seven minutes later when Kai Burrell picked himself to convert a penalty after he had been hacked down by Longwell centre-half Scott Saunders, who was shown a red card.

Burrell was at the centre of the action again for Blazey’s third goal 12 minutes from time, bursting into the penalty area before laying the ball off to Olly Redd to fire a low shot into the net.

Blazey are now unbeaten in eight games in all competitions and have suffered only one defeat in 18 fixtures this season. They have conceded only two goals in their last five outings.

All of which left manager Dan Hart purring. He said: “We knew yesterday’s game would be a challenging hurdle. I’d been up to see Longwell play only 24 hours or so after the draw was made and they looked a really good side. They pass it well, they have experience in their team through the spine and they work it on their 3G surface impressively.

“I asked our group in preparation to play a varied game, and not to try and be obsessed in the build phase as they’d likely press us with good intensity. As it happened, once the game settled, our quality was probably too high for them to gain too many dangerous moments in transition and I think we all felt we should’ve been ahead at half-time, albeit we were certainly in a contest.”

He went on: “Teigan felt his hamstring just before half-time, so we didn’t want to take a risk with that. Harry Blows once more has come into the game, fearlessly, and opened the scoring within five minutes of the restart. It’s a scruffy goal, but a big one in a cup tie that goes straight to penalties – so the first goal is always key.

“Then their centre-back has lashed out inside the box. It’s a really naive moment from probably their most experienced player, not only has it meant a straight red card, he’s given us a penalty too and Kai was never missing that opportunity.

“From that point onwards we glided really. Olly scored a nice third, and it meant we could rest a couple more in the last 20 minutes. With some key players out of the squad, I think we can be pleased with yesterday’s scoreline and performance.”

He added: “I’m looking forward to welcoming everyone back to the fold this week ahead of the game at Tavistock on Saturday. It’s our fourth game against them this season, we were massively frustrated by their last minute equaliser at home and we will be going there with a score to settle for sure.

“Monday’s draw will have my attention, as always for me in the Vase and any cup competition, keep those home draws coming where possible.”

ST BLAZEY: Mac Dewsnap; Tom Cavanagh, Jack Calver (capt), Charlie Hambly, Jordan Bentley, Teigan Rosenquest, Olly Redd, Ben Fowles, Kai Burrell, Tallan Mitchell, Cam Hutchison. Subs: Harry Blows, Todd Hanrahan, Igor Piewiszko.

Blazey man-of-the-match: Ben Fowles.