The FA Trophy
First Round Proper
Saturday 17 December 2005









Holders Grays Athletic were handed a tricky journey to fellow Conference outfit Aldershot when the draw for The FA Trophy First Round Proper was made on Monday at Soho Square.

The Conference leaders, who are currently 15 points ahead of The Shots and are undefeated on the road, should be favourites to win the tie. But Aldershot are improving, as four consecutive league wins would suggest, and might fancy a mini-upset.

Grays' trip to The Recreation Ground is one of five all-Conference ties, which includes struggling Crawley, who have recently appointed ex-Chelsea boss John Hollins as manager, making a difficult trip to fifth placed Stevenage Borough.

Exeter City, who famously held the mighty Manchester United to a 0-0 draw in front of 67,000 spectators at Old Trafford in last year's FA Cup Third Round, host Maidenhead or Bishop's Stortford, who lost in last year's Trophy semi-final.

Nigel Clough's Burton Albion, who are still in the FA Cup, host Worksop Town or AFC Telford United and Yeading, another side with FA Cup pedigree, have been drawn at home to Conference South strugglers Carshalton, who are yet to win a league game this season.

Paul Gascoigne's first foray into The Trophy ended with a 1-0 win over Gainsborough Trinity. The former England man's reward is another home draw, this time against Farsley Celtic of the Unibond Premier.

Farsley produced a shock win when they overcame Conference North Nuneaton Borough 3-1. Amjad Iqbal, James Knowles and Kevin Sanasay scored the goals.

But the shock of the round came from Southern League Division One West side Solihull Borough who beat Harrogate Town.

A 36th minute strike from Dave Pearson ultimately proved enough for the minnows, who lie 55 places below Harrogate in the non-league hierarchy.

"Everyone here is very proud of the side," said club official Joe Murphy. "Harrogate threw the kitchen sink at us at times, but we defended fantastically."

A number of the other Conference North and South sides who came into the competition in Third Qualifying Round struggled to make headway.

Newport County, who lie 20th in the Conference South, were thumped 3-0 at Southern Premier Salisbury City, falling behind to an Alex Haddow goal after just 39 seconds.

Despite home advantage, Worksop Town were unable to shake off AFC Telford of the Northern Premier, who grabbed a 1-1 draw with a goal from leading scorer Luke Reynolds in the 81st minute.

Leighton Town, tenth in the Southern league Division One West, were seconds from victory against Eastleigh when the visitors were awarded, and converted, a 90th minute penalty through Martin Thomas.