Magnificent Mussels strike ten in rampant FA Vase victory

Shoreham Football Club put ten past Oakwood as they secured their spot in the first-round proper of this year's FA Vase on Saturday.
Rob O'Toole struck a perfect hat-trick in Shoreham's victory on Saturday. Picture: Stephen GoodgerRob O'Toole struck a perfect hat-trick in Shoreham's victory on Saturday. Picture: Stephen Goodger
Rob O'Toole struck a perfect hat-trick in Shoreham's victory on Saturday. Picture: Stephen Goodger

Hat-tricks from both George Gaskin and Rob O’Toole, along with strikes from Jamie Craddock, Devante Davis, Freddie Barker and Charlie Pitcher helped Mussels see off division-lower Southern Combination League Division 1 Oakwood in the second-round qualifying encounter.

Shoreham were scintillating in the opening 45 minutes and raced into an eight-goal lead.

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Mussels boss Bryan O’Toole felt it was a dominant display and said: “I just told the players to remain professional and produce the type of display we came up with at Eastbourne Town. We didn’t really know too much about them but we stuck to our task and did a really good job.

“The pitch is nice and flat which allowed us to play football, if it had been 20 I don’t think that would have been an unfair reflection. We’re in the draw for the next round which is most important and hopefully we’ll have a little bit of luck with the draw.”

Shoreham were ahead inside a minute as Rob O’Toole was on hand to head his side in front.

O’Toole then turned provider as his head down found Davis and he made no mistake making it 2-0 with just 14 minutes on the clock.

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Pitcher’s strike nine minutes later sparked a crazy 17-minute spell leading into the interval.

Gaskin notched his first of the afternoon less than a minute later, then O’Toole’s left-footed drive made it four with 25 minutes played.

Shoreham striker Gaskin then got a third in as many minutes for his side as Oakwood were struggling to deal with what was being thrown at them.

O’Toole then became the first Mussels players on the day to compete his hat-trick, which took him just 33 minutes.

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This time around he fired home with his right-foot as he completed a perfect trio of strikes.

Gaskin then joined his strike partner by notching his third five minutes before the break.

With an eight-goal advantage, both O’Toole and Gaskin were taken off at half time as Barker and Craddock came onto replace them.

Barker did not take long to make an impact bagging a ninth for his side just three minutes after the interval.

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Several chances were wasted in a just as dominant second period before a tenth went in a minute before the end.

Another substitute, this time Craddock, was in the right place at the right time to add extra gloss to the scoreline.

Shoreham were still pushing for even more right up until the final whistle but it finished 10-0, with Mussels now waiting to see who they will meet in round one.

Mussels return to Southern Combination League Premier Division action with a trip to Horsham YMCA on Wednesday.

SHOREHAM: Heyburn; Hartley, Pearson, Tuck, M.Hand; Pitcher, Storrie, J.Keehan, Davis; R.O’Toole, Gaskin. Subs: Barker (R.O’Toole), Craddock (Gaskin), Tuck (B.O’Toole), K.Keehan.

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