Photo gallery here: http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/pictures/Larkhall-Athletic-vs-Peacehaven-Telscombe/pictures-18002155-detail/pictures.html (courtesy of Bath Chronicle).

We will play either the current Vase holders Dunston UTS or Tunbridge Wells (who play their 4th round tie next Saturday) in the 5th round *at home* on 9th February.

Put 9th Feb in your diary. Up the Larks!

MATCH REPORT

Thanks to tremendous efforts from some club members, who cleared the pitch of tons of snow on Thursday, we managed to get the postponed Vase tie against Peacehaven & Telscombe played yesterday. Our reward, in front of a large crowd from all over the country, was a win and a place in the last 16 for the second season running...

As with the previous round v Kidlington, due to Tyler being cup-tied and Clarkey being injured we were forced to play with Nat Auckland as the sole striker, with in-form Kieran Baggs and Jamie Lyons on the wings. Ben Horan being away, Simon Gilbert and Matty Ralph held the midfield.

The game began as a typically fast-paced and competitive cup tie. Peacehaven had the first chance of a game that wasn't notable for many chances, a volley that went just wide. Shortly afterwards, Ralphy placed a characteristically accurate close-range cross for Jamie that was only an inch or two away from going into the Peacehaven net. On the balance of play at this early stage Peacehaven probably had the edge, and Nat looked a rather isolated figure at the front of our attack. The opposition struck first, scoring a goal on 15 minutes that flew over Snods' head from a cruel deflection.

As with the last few games, though, the Larks demonstrated enough resilience to bounce back, and some excellent work from Kieran led to a free kick on the very edge of the area on 30 minutes. We all expected Jamie to take it, given that it was from one of his favourite positions, but Natty stepped up and fired a stunning strike round the Peacehaven wall and unstoppably into the net. For the remainder of the first half the Larks played really well with lots of possession; some good running from our full-backs Scotty and Jason Burt, in particular, discomfited the opposition although we didn't quite have the edge to gain an advantage in the scoreline.

The second half picked up where the first half had ended: we were forcing Peacehaven to defend and won two corners in the first couple of minutes. The opposition did break forward early on but their attempt on goal was flagged for offside. Another Larks' attack, featuring some fantastic passes through to Natty from Jamie, led to our second and winning goal only 3 minutes after the restart when Si Gilbert was brought down in the penalty area. As against Kidlington, Si had the composure to place the ball in the back of the net and we had our lead. This was Si's last contribution to the game, though: an injury meant an early replacement by Tom Welch.

Thereafter the Larks reverted to a more defensive mode and when Andy Gilbert replaced Kieran some of our threat was stifled. The heavy pitch was also cutting up badly by then, and with the players tiring the game got rather scrappy. We were playing very deep for the last half hour and Snods had to make a number of fine saves to preserve the advantage. Credit is also due to our central defenders, who held the line magnificently; Mike Jones made a heroic goalline clearance (watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Fvghby8pYyU) when a Peacehaven player lobbed the ball over Snods' head and Adam Tyers (man of the match) battled back the Peacehaven forward line for over 90 minutes.

Unlike last season when the Vase draw threw up away tie after away tie, we are at home again in the 5th round, when we will face either Dunston UTS from the Northern League Division One, the current cup-holders, or Tunbridge Wells from the Kent Hurlimann League. We are once again 3 wins from Wembley and a club best-ever Vase performance beckons...

You can hear a brief report on the match by yours truly on the 5Live Non-League Show by going to the podcast (it's 15 minutes into the show): http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/london/nonleague/nonleague_20130127-0600a.mp3

Many thanks to Graham Yapp for his photos and video clips on his blog-site: http://modushopperrandom.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/larkhall-ascending.html?m=1
Video clip 10 is Mike Jones's clearance off the line!