The second qualifying round of the Emirates FA Cup comes along very quickly after the first round, as we travel to Privett Park to take on Gosport Borough this Saturday ko 3pm.
There will be 80 ties in this round, all to be played on Saturday, with Pickering Town v Runcorn Linnets being chosen for live broadcast by BBC. They both receive a fee of £2,000. The winners of each tie in this round will receive £3375 from the prize pot with the losers taking home £1125.
Other local teams in 2Q action are Wimborne Town who will entertain Enterprise National League South, Bath City and Dorchester Town who will travel to Southern League Div One South outfit, Brixham.
Gosport progressed into 2Q by overcoming Basingstoke 2-1 at their AEI Stadium in 1Q. Charlie Wassmer gave them a half-time lead which loanee Ben Greenwood doubled early in the second half. Basingstoke were reduced to 10 men when their keeper was shown a straight red for taking out Ethan Taylor. Basingstoke did score a late consolation goal to deny Boro a clean sheet.
Gosport also have a joint manager set up, Danny Hollands has taken on a player/coach role alongside someone who we know well, Glenn Howes.
We were in one of the bottom four league places when lost the league match 0-1 at Privett Park last February on what was Pat Suraci and Joe Lea’s first visit to the ground since they left to take over at Tatnam. They went on to finish in 12thplace (P42 W13 D12 L17 51points) five points above the relegation places. They reached 4Q in last year’s FA Cup and were knocked out by Wealdstone 4-1. Dolphin fans will no doubt remember the penalty shoot-out in the FA Trophy 3Q after we had drawn 1-1 at Tatnam. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way and we exited the competition losing it 4-3.
Gosport come into the match on the back of a 1-0 win over Wimborne on Wednesday evening. This was their second win from the opening seven league fixtures putting them on 8 points.
The Dolphins have enjoyed a very solid start to the season, picking up 4 wins and 2 draws from the first 7 league matches. The Tatnam faithful were treated to non-league football at its best on Tuesday evening when we scored a 93rdminute equaliser to take a well-deserved point from Farnham Town. It’s very noticeable how the side are getting used to playing along side each other and learning just what Pat and Joe expect from them.
We have seen great performances from several of our players but it’s fair to mention the hard work and determination shown by Billy Lowes in recent matches. Billy started his semi-professional career with Poole Town FC as a 17-year-old. After a two-year spell at AFC Totton where he excelled, the dynamic midfielder spent five years patrolling the midfield for Dorchester Town making 186 appearances for the Magpies across five seasons, scoring 12 goals. He made the decision to join Bashley and after an impressive season, he earnt himself a move to the Dolphins, and has been one of our standout players since the start of this season.
Will this be our season to enjoy a run in the country’s top cup competition, let’s hope so.
Enjoy the game
Neil Wellington.
