Buildbase FA Vase Second Round Draw

Monday 2nd November 2020

Royal Wootton Bassett Town have been handed an away trip to face Bridgwater Town in the Buildbase FA Vase Second Round.

The tie will take place on Saturday 5 December, 3pm kick off.

When the game does take place, Sam Collier's side will be aiming to make history though with Bassett having never ventured beyond the Second Round of the competition before.

After Second Round defeats against Wimborne Town (0-4) in 2008-09 and Horndean (2-3) in 2017-18, Bassett will finally be looking to overcome that hurdle.

The tie is Bassett's reward for victories against Stonehouse Town (1-0) in the Second Qualifying Round and Camelford (4-0) in the First Round. Meanwhile, Bridgwater, who entered at the First Round stage, advanced courtesy of a thumping 5-0 home victory against Somerset-rivals Welton Rovers.

As with the tie against Camelford, Bassett's visit to the Robins will represent the first ever competitive fixture against their Western League Premier Division opponents.

However, Bassett do have plenty of Vase experience against Western League sides, with six previous ties seeing Bassett progress on two occasions and being knocked out four times. Sam Collier's side did begin this season's record-matching Emirates FA Cup run with victory over Bridgwater's league rivals Chipping Sodbury Town on penalties.

Bridgwater, who enjoyed a ten season spell in the Southern League between the 2007-08 and 2016-17 seasons, will represent a significant test.

After sitting eighth in the Western League Premier Division at the point of which the 2019-20 season was brought to a premature close, Bridgwater have started their current campaign with five wins, five defeats and one draw from their opening eleven league fixtures – a tally that currently sees them in twelfth place. In addition to their Vase win on Saturday, they reached the FA Cup Preliminary Round where they fell to defeat by the odd goal in five against Bitton.

They come with plenty of pedigree in national cup competitions too.

Their best Vase run came in 2004-05 when they reached the Fifth Round (last sixteen) and were eliminated by eventual losing finalists AFC Sudbury. They have reached the Third Round in two of the last three seasons (2017-18 and 2019-20) and also reached that stage in 1996-97.

The Robins' greatest success in national cup competitions has come in the FA Cup, reaching the Second Round twice (1960-61 and 1961-62) while progressing to the First Round on two further occasions (1963-64 and 1971-72).

Last modified on Sunday 29th November 2020 at 13:11.