Wes Tate proved to be the star during a thrilling day of FA Vase Sixth Round Proper action, as the Eastbourne United man fired a stunning brace to help his side defeat nine-man Ampthill Town 2-1 and book their place in the Semi-Finals.
Tate produced a piece of magic in the first half, beating goalkeeper Martin Conway from fully 35 yards with a superb long-range lob.
Ampthill had Mark Bunker dismissed for two yellow cards after the break but responded well to the setback, levelling things up through Tyrone Taylor shortly before the hour-mark.
The FA Carlsberg Vase
Sixth Round Proper
3pm, Saturday 8 March
Winners receive £4500
By Zarif Rasul
However, Tate netted again 13 minutes before the end to send Eastbourne through, while Ampthill’s misery was complete when Steve Flux was given his marching orders in stoppage time.
Sholing are also through to the last four after Lee Wort’s first-half strike earned the Hampshire side a slender 1-0 win at home to Wisbech Town.
Wort struck after 29 minutes, latching on to a through-ball from Ashley Jarvis before running past Paul Cousins, rounding goalkeeper Carl Mackney and firing home.
Wisbech gave a good account of themselves and were unfortunate not to find the back of the net, with Callum Reed striking the woodwork once in each half.
Meanwhile in Gateshead, West Auckland Town defeated Dunston UTS 1-0 in a re-run of the 2012 Final.
Dunston may have triumphed on that occasion, winning 2-0 on the day, but West Auckland are on course to reach Wembley again this year thanks to Dennis Knight, who scored the only goal of the game in the 56th minute.
St Andrews complete the quartet of Semi-Finallists after recording a narrow 1-0 win at home to Newcastle Benfield, with Drews Towers netting the decisive goal.
The Semi-Final draw will be made at Wembley Stadium on Monday morning.
