THREE BRIDGES 3 Didcot 1 
FA Cup Preliminary Round,
Saturday August 31st

Winning club received £1,000

Three Bridges looked a good punt to beat Didcot from the opening minutes - and eventually earned themselves an away tie at Chipstead in the First Qualifying Round of the FA Cup.

It took goalscoring defender Danny Punt just three minutes to head past the Railwaymen's goalkeeper Alex Deadman from Pat Massaro's cross. From then on, the Sussex County League side always looked likely winners although the first half lasted an extraordinary 56 minutes.

An ankle injury to Deadman accounted for five of the 11 minutes injury-time added on at the end of the half by referee Mr Daley. But it wasn't until two minutes after the interval that another goal was scored, Gareth Gregg nabbing his first goal for Bridges to put them 2-0 ahead.

Deadman immediately withdrew because his injury was clearly affecting his mobility and the visitors quickly pulled a goal back when Ian Concannon - last season's Golden Boot winner in the Hellenic League - headed home. Concannon went close to an equaliser but Bridges sealed their victory when left back Ben Richardson played chipped a long ball into Didcot's area and Massaro rounded the goalkeeper for his 10th goal of the season.

THE TRAIL SO FAR (featured club in italics)

Extra-Preliminary round - Greenwich Borough 1 Three Bridges 4 Preliminary round - Three Bridges 3 Didcot Town 1
First qualifying round: Chipstead v Three Bridges (playing September 14)

The FA Cup Trail is compiled by Joe Bernstein.