Biggs at the double for Mullets in FA Vase

JOSH Biggs scored twice on Saturday as Arundel Football Club reached the second-qualifying round of the FA Vase.

Mullets needed extra-time to eliminate fellow County League Division 1 side Hailsham and will now host Kent League Deal Town in the next round on September 15.

Arundel took the lead after just 10 minutes when Biggs raced on to a through ball and finished well from the edge of the penalty area.

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Hailsham levelled on 35 minutes when Mullets keeper James Fernandes’ clearance, under pressure from Danny Leach, went straight to Simon Stevens and he netted from 40 yards.

In the second half, Arundel’s Ryan Peake and Rob Grove both headed efforts over, while Leach turned on the edge of the penalty box and fired just wide.

Mullets took the lead four minutes into extra-time when they were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area when Rory Biggs was brought down, which saw Hailsham’s Ashley Jarvis sent off, and substitute Ryan Warr fired the ball home.

Arundel sealed the win with five minutes left when Josh Biggs tried to knock the ball past a Hailsham defender, who handled it, and Josh Biggs scored from the resulting spot-kick.

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Mullets boss Brett Torode said: “We started well and after we’d got the early goal, I thought we would go on and win it comfortably.

“They didn’t threaten us for the first 20 minutes but, after they got the goal, to be fair to them they had a 15-minute spell where they put us under some pressure.

“After half-time, though, I thought we were the better side and we were on top in extra-time.

“I’m really pleased with how we’ve started the season but we’re not getting too carried away.

“There’s never an easy game in this league as there are some good sides but, hopefully, we’ll carry on with how we’ve been going.”

Arundel travel to Dorking Wanderers on Saturday.

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