FA Vase reprieve: We'll give it all we've got, says Littlehampton Town boss

Littlehampton Town have vowed to give it all they have after being handed a dramatic FA Vase reprieve.

Golds have been reinstated into the competition after Athletic Newham were thrown out for fielding an ineligible player in their win over Town in the previous round. They will host Brockenhurst in the fifth round on Saturday, February 12.

The fifth round is the last 16 of the Vase and winning clubs will pick up £2,250 from the competition prize fund. A win would leave Golds just two more wins from the Wembley final.

Newham have appealed over their removal but are not expected to be allowed back in.

The good news for Golds comes in a mixed week for their Southern Combination title hopes. They lost 4-3 at home to Saltdean on Saturday but beat Loxwood 3-0 on Tuesday night to go four points clear.

In the Vase, Newham beat Littlehampton 5-0 in round four with joint Golds boss Mitchell Hand admitting they’d been beaten by the better team. Hand said this week of the reinstatement: “It is a massive lift. You rarely get second chances in football and we really let ourselves down in the previous round.

“It’s frustrating that we will be missing Tom Biggs, Ryan Peake and George Gaskin through suspension, and we’ve had a setback with Joe Benn as well.”

Fifty-goal Benn dislocated his shoulder in the Newham game and is unlikely to play again for a month or so.

But Hand added: “We will give it everything we’ve got and we’re determined to put right what happened at Newham.” The Brockenhurst tie is likely to draw a huge crowd to the Sportsfield, and a match against Crawley Down Gatwick planned for that day has now been postponed.

Meanwhile Hand was delighted as a hat-trick of penalties, one by Dave Herbert, two for George Gaskin – saw off Loxwood, allowing Golds to put their Sealtdean defeat behind them.

Hand said: “It was a huge win. The boys really stepped up and it’s nice to get that elusive clean sheet again. I was more then happy with the reaction after a difficult week last week. We’re at the business end now and it was a professional performance.”