Sidley cracks show in Vase

They took Ramsgate to a replay last year but this time around they exited with barely a whimper after suffering a 4-1 defeat away to Wessex League Moneyfields.

"The players know they didn't do as well as they can do," said joint manager Andy Laskey. "It was 1-1 at half time and we told them the game was there for the taking. But we just didn't come out of the changing room second half. They upped their game a little bit but second half we were very, very poor all over really.

"Perhaps the midweek game took it out of them more than I thought because we looked heavy-legged really. I don't know if going on a coach helped either but it sounds like we're looking for excuses. The second half performance has been the most disappointing this year, we were just chasing men. If we played like we did against Southwick and Eastbourne (United Association) I think we would have got something without a doubt. The people they let down were the supporters who went down there."

There was little sign of the demise that ensued, however, in the first half of this second qualifying round tie when the teams were "quite evenly matched".

They went behind to a goal by Chandler in the 20th minute after a poor touch by Jordan Wood conceded a throw in and three passes later the ball was in the back of the net. United retaliated swiftly when Steve Morris smashed a free kick from the edge of the area into the top corner four minutes later.

But this joy turned sour as Gavin Jones re-established Moneyfields' lead in the third minute of the second half by firing home splendidly on the turn.

The subsequent switch to their old 3-5-2 formation to match their opponents seemed to confuse rather than clarify, though, and things just went from bad to worse for Blues as Danny Horrell (59) and Singh (70) put further strikes beyond Greg Thurstans - "the only one who came out of it with some sort of credit".