Semi-Finals, Second Leg
Saturday 20 March 2004

Winchester City 4-0 Bideford
Winchester City won 7-3 on aggregate
Carlsberg Man of the Tie – Winchester City’s Ian Mancey

Colne 1-1 AFC Sudbury
AFC Sudbury won 4-3 on aggregate
Carlsberg Man of the Tie - AFC Sudbury's Dean Greygoose

The Final of this season’s FA Vase, in partnership with Carlsberg, will be between Winchester City and AFC Sudbury.

AFC Sudbury booked their place in the final for the second season running with a 4-3 win on aggregate over Colne, and Winchester City thrashed Bideford 7-3 on aggregate to get into the final for the first time.

The Eastern Counties Premier side went into the second leg with a one-goal advantage over the North West Counties Division Two outfit.

But it was the home side who dominated the first half and AFC Sudbury’s goalkeeper Dean Greygoose made some wonderful saves to keep the Suffolk side in contention – and to earn himself the Carlsberg Man of the Tie Award.

In the second-half, AFC Sudbury took more control of the game but the crowd of 1,742 had to wait until the 80th minute for a goal.

AFC Sudbury substitute Sam Banya, who had helped turned the game around when he was brought on in the first leg, found the back of the net with ten minutes to go.

Colne were determined not to give up without a fight and, in the 85th minute, Gavin Cooper scored to make it 1-1.

Despite Colne’s quick reply, they were unable to find the back of the net again and the game ended with AFC Sudbury winning 4-3 on aggregate.

After coming away from Bideford last weekend with a 3-3 draw, Winchester City scored four more goals to make it to the final in only their second season in the competition, having reached the quarter-finals last year.

Both sides struggled to settle early on as they adjusted to the driving wind and rain, which had failed to keep away the fans. A new record attendance was set at Winchester City with a crowd of 1,818 – more than double the previous record set in the quarter-finals.

The Wessex League side took advantage of the wind being behind them in the first half and dominated play, but Bideford managed to soak up the early pressure and goalkeeper Ryan Draper made a super save in the 14th minute.

The rain eased off midway through the first half and Winchester continued to have the lion’s share of the possession, but it wasn’t until the 42nd minute that they went ahead with a volley in from Ian Mancey.

On the stroke of half-time, Andrew Forbes fired in a goal to give Winchester a 2-0 lead.

Having gone two goals down in the first leg, Bideford hoped they could get back into the game with the conditions favouring them in the second half. But in the 49th minute, Ian Mancey found the back of the net again to make it 3-0.

Bideford’s manager Sean Joyce made two quick substitutions, bringing on Tom Kelly and Leon Hapgood, but things went from bad to worse when Simon Langmead was sent off for handling on the line.

Andrew Forbes stepped up to take the penalty in the 65th minute and sent goalkeeper Ryan Draper the wrong way, claiming his 70th goal of the season – to make it 4-0.

Bideford never recovered from the fourth goal and in the 71st minute went down to nine men when substitute Leon Hapgood was sent off.

There jubilant scenes among the Winchester City fans when the final whistle went and Ian Mancey, who got three of their seven goals, was presented with the Carlsberg Man of the Tie Award.

AFC Sudbury and Winchester City will be awarded £6,000 each in prize money by The FA for their victories in the semi-final, taking their total prize money to £15,700 each.

They will now face each other in the final at Birmingham City FC on Sunday, May 16, kick off 3pm, when the winner will receive £15,000.