ALRESFORD TN 1, CADBURY HEATH 3

ALRESFORD Town’s hopes of making further lucrative progress in the FA Cup were shattered as Cadbury Heath swept into a 3-0 lead in the opening 20 minutes at Arlebury Park.

Alresford, their form picking up after the merger with the now defunct Otterbourne FC, made a bright start, only to fall behind after just seven minutes when the ball came back off the crossbar and bounced nicely for Matt Huxley to blast past Dan Kempson in the home goal.

The visitors from the Western Premier League doubled their lead eight minutes later, Simon McElroy scoring from an acute angle after smart work down the left by Dan Vile.

Cadbury Heath were flying at this stage and Alresford had no answer to their attacking play. The cup-tie was effectively all over on 20 minutes as Matt Huxley found the net with a superb strike.

Alresford fought back valiantly, but the damage had been done. Cadbury took a serious injury to centre-back Callum Whooley in their stride and maintained their three-goal advantage at half-time.

The Magpies’ hopes revived 11 minutes into the second half when Tom Sands headed an excellent cross past Jamie Powell.

The goal unsettled Heath for a while, but they dug in and always looked dangerous on the break.

Both sides missed decent chances in the last half-hour, but Cadbury were worthy winners at the finish. Their reward is an away tie with Kempston Rovers or Burgess Hill in the third qualifying round on Saturday, October 1.

Basingstoke and Farnborough also bowed out of the FA Cup last weekend. Basingstoke lost 1-0 at home to Hungerford, while Farnborough lost by the same score away to Swindon Supermarine.