By Matthew Barrett
GOSPORT BOROUGH will be on the road again in the FA Trophy after being drawn away to North Ferriby United in the quarter-finals.
The Boro scraped through against Calor League Premier Hungerford Town thanks to a great strike from top-scorer Jamie Brown and a late penalty save from Nathan Ashmore, which ensured a 1-0 win.
Gosport manager Alex Pike said “it was a typical cup tie – Hungerford more than played their part. Getting injuries to Andy Forbes and Tom Dunford didn’t help really and we had to change the way we played, change the formation, but we adapted and came out on top.
“It was a great goal to win it – Jamie is our top scorer and showed great desire to get in front of the defender and hook it into the top corner with his back to goal.”
Pike’s men will travel north to face the Villagers in the quarters following their impressive 4-0 away thumping of Skrill Premier Lincoln City.
Boss Billy Heath was delighted with his side’s win and the Skrill North outfit will fancy their chances in the next round.
He said: “Obviously it’s a fantastic result for us, a result that our performance deserved. I don’t even think the scoreline flattered us either.”
Elsewhere, the winner of tonight’s replay between Cambridge and Luton travel to Skrill South high-fliers Eastleigh while Tamworth will have to overcome Chorley if they want to travel to last season’s beaten finalists Grimsby.
In the only other tie, Havant & Waterlooville welcome Aldershot Town. The Shots were close to going under in the summer and it would be some story if the club were playing at Wembley just eight months after.
The winners of the four quarter final ties, which will be played on Saturday, February 1, will pocket £8,000 from the FA Prize Fund and be just two games from Wembley.
Full FA Trophy Quarter-Final Draw:
Havant & Waterlooville v Aldershot Town
Eastleigh v Cambridge Utd/Luton Town
North Ferriby Utd v Gosport Borough
Grimsby Town v Tamworth/Chorley
