Oxhey Jets have been rewarded with a home tie against Wisbech Town in the first round of the FA Vase after a 3-0 victory over Penn & Tylers Green.
The club are still seeking their first victory in the Combined Counties League following their move from the Spartan South Midlands League, but a reshuffled side delivered in Saturday's second preliminary round tie.
Jets are celebrating their 50th anniversary and prior to kick-off their founder and general manager John Elliott received a plaque from Mike Taylor from the Spartan league in recognition of his “dedicated and outstanding service to the club and its development”.
Oxhey started positively with Owen Ayres hitting the bar and Marcus Rivers twice within inches of making the breakthrough.
But Ayres enjoyed a moment to savour on the half-hour, curling home a right-footed shot from outside the area to score his first competitive goal for the club.
Although the home side remained defensively firm, they struggled to get going after the break until they were beneficiaries of a bizarre penalty when Kyle Matthew was bought down after a defender had dived in an action the Jets website described as “reminiscent of a killer whale jumping then belly flopping to ground”. Jameel Murshid made no mistake from the spot.
Jets made sure of their passage into the next round when Sean Giordmaina fired low into the net after 86 minutes.
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