NON-LEAGUE Littlehampton Town FC will play at Wembley Stadium in the FA Vase Final after beating Loughborough Students 4-0 this afternoon.
The Marigolds played to a sold-out crowd of over 3,000 at Littlehampton Sportsfield in St Floras Road as they passed the visitors in style.
It was the first FA Vase semi-final for Littlehampton in 31 years, with their last semi-final ending in defeat in 1991 to Gresley Rovers.
The long-awaited opportunity for a first final would not phase the home side, with George Gaskin opening the scoring on 36 seconds to give Littlehampton Town the lead.
Full time: Littlehampton Town 4-0 Loughborough Students. We are going to Wembley!!!!!!!! #BuildbaseFAVase pic.twitter.com/G13F6u1znZ
— Littlehampton TownFC (@LittlehamptonFC) April 2, 2022
Captain Jordan Clark doubled the home side’s lead with a deft header that entered the post in the 35th minute in front of 3,142 fans.
Loughborough hit the bar just two minutes later but the teams would go in with the Marigolds winning 2-0 at half-time.
The home side, who top the Southern Combination Football League Premier, which is the ninth tier of English football, scored again just 11 minutes from the start of the second half. Shay Wiggans made it 3-0 at all but sealed their win.
It could have been 4-0 but a shot that looked like it crossed the line was missed for the home side in the 76th minute.
Alex Duncan celebrates George Gaskin’s second goal of the game. Photo of Littlehampton Town FC
However, George Gaskin appeared for his second of the match after a fine run from Dion Jarvis to pile the misery on Loughborough and make it 4-0.
The club praised Loughborough student fans for bringing 112 fans on the 158-mile trip south.
The town of Littlehampton the cup journey began in October in the first round where they beat Moneyfields 3-2. Since then, the Marigolds have edged out Deal Town and Sheppey United 2-1 and 1-0 respectively.
Yesssss!!!!!! Enter!!!!! We’re going to Wembley 💛🖤 pic.twitter.com/w9Wfo0Xyil
— Littlehampton TownFC (@LittlehamptonFC) April 2, 2022
They lost 5-0 away to London-based Newham on January 15 but were reinstated after the home side fielded an ineligible player.
Town of Littlehampton beat Brockenhurst 4-1 in the quarter-final on penalties after a 3-3 draw in normal time on 12 February. The semi-final saw them beat North Shields after a late winner at 79 minutes on March 12.
Littlehampton will face Newport Pagnell Town FC on May 22 at Wembley Stadium.
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Source: www.theargus.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-04-02 16:36:19
