FA Vase - 1st Qualifying Round this Weekend

No less than 18 CCL clubs start out on the path to Wembley in the FA Vase this weekend, in the 1st Qualifying Round. A few have byes in this round, whilst three are exempt until the 1st Round Proper, due to finishing in the top three last season, namely Camberley Town, Ashford Town (Mx) and Cove. Colliers Wood are exempt until the 2nd Round Proper following their excellent showing in the Vase last season.

In alphabetical order of home side, here is a brief synopsis of the ties involving our clubs.

Abbey Rangers, in their 1st ever FA Vase match will play at home to Holyport. They are also a Step 6 club, playing in the eastern Division of the Hellenic League, in which they are currently in 4th place.

Ash United and Windsor meet in the only all CCL tie. It’s Div One v the Premier Division.

Banstead Athletic play at home to Seven Acre & Sidcup FC. They are also a Step 6 side playing in the Kent Invicta League, in which they are currently 11th.

Chertsey will entertain Gloucestershire based Tuffley Rovers, who are in 13th place in the Premier Division of the Hellenic League. Both clubs have agreed that Saturday’s tie will be played to a conclusion, with no replay.

Cobham entertain Shoreham who managed to put Horley Town out of the FA Cup in a replay in midweek. They are currently in 17th place in the Southern Combination (ex Sussex League).

Corinthian FC from Kent will face CCL Cup heroes Chessington & Hook. Corinthian are in the Southern Counties East League and are right at the top with maximum points from their opening four league matches.

Another Kent v Surrey clash is at Deal Town, where the home side will face Dorking. Deal are down in 14th place in the Southern Counties East at the present time.

It’s the battle of the F’s as Frimley Green entertain Fleet Spurs from the Wessex League, Division One. Fleet are in 13th place.

Hanworth Villa face Desborough Town from the United Counties League, a journey of 92 miles each way, so Villa need to try to get the job done on Saturday. Desborough are just below mid-table in 12th place.

Hartley Wintney face Longlevens FC. This will doubtless be a tough tie for Hartley with Longlevens having made rapid progress through the system in recent years and currently in 4th place in the Premier Division of the Hellenic League. For the ignoramuses amongst us (writer included, until he looked it up), Longlevens is close to Gloucester.

Langford will entertain Bedfont Sports. They play in Division One of the Spartan S. Midlands League and are currently in 11th place.

Spelthorne Sports have received no favours in the draws for both the FA Cup and the Vase and they have to travel 84 miles up to Northamptonshire to meet Long Buckby FC, who play in Division One of the United Counties League and who are currently in 11th place.

Guildford City will be going in the opposite direction as they travel down to the coast to play Newhaven FC from the Southern Combination. It looks like a tough tie though with Newhaven right at the top at present.

It is a far more local affair at Raynes Park Vale, who entertain ex-CCL side Croydon, now in the Southern Counties East and in which they are currently rock bottom with no points on the board.

Finally another ex-CCL side Southall FC will play one of our other FA Cup heroes, Bedfont & Feltham. Southall currently hold 12th place in Division One of the Spartan S. Midlands League.

Finally, Epsom & Ewell have to wait until Sunday for their tie away to ex-Ryman side Horsham, now playing at Step 5 and ground sharing with Horsham YMCA. They are currently in 4th place in the Southern Combination and this should be an intriguing tie between two unbeaten sides in their leagues. Kick-off is 3.00 p.m.

Good luck to all CCL clubs involved. If there are any draws, the replays might affect next week’s scheduled matches and full details will be on the web site as soon as possible. The next round of the Vase is Saturday 3 October, when again, scheduled fixtures will be changed with details appearing as soon as possible.