BUCKLAND Athletic manager Matt Cusack and his Bovey Tracey AFC counterpart Ben Gerring have offered their reactions to the FA Vase first round proper draw.

Whilst some of their South Devon rivals were knocked out in the second qualifying round on Saturday, September 20.

Starting with the Bucks and they beat Ilfracombe Town 5-1 last weekend, courtesy of five different scorers.

The Peninsula League side took the lead at the VX3 Stadium only for Buckland to come firing back.

Luke Forward struck to send the teams into the break at one apiece before Ryan Bush converted from the penalty spot and Jack Baxter fired home. Young duo Harvey Roche and Toby Hard came off of the bench to put the gloss on the game and guarantee their side’s spot at the next stage.

Once again, the Yellows will cross paths with a team from step six, making the trip to face Bishops Lydeard on Saturday, October 18.

With eight losses from eight games, they are struggling at the wrong end of the table, tied on zero points with Axminster Town.

That doesn’t change the picture for Cusack at all though: “We’ll go there and treat them with the full respect that they deserve, they’re in this round for a reason.”

He continued, “We don’t know a lot about them so we will go there and have to respect them as an opponent, as we would any opponent.”

Having exited the Devon St Luke’s Bowl to Bovey Tracey via a penalty shootout on Wednesday night, the Vase becomes all the more important as a cup competition on their calendar.

“It’s a competition that we want to do really well in and I’ll make no apologies about that. The players are fully aware of the expectations and we want a deep run in the Vase.

“We’d have preferred the tie to be at home, it’s away, I’ve never been there before and I like visiting new grounds so we’re looking forward to it.”

Moving over to the Moorlanders and they will face higher-ranked opponents once again after a superb performance and result last time out.

They headed to high-flying Torpoint Athletic, who at the time were in second in the Western League thanks to a 7-1-0 record, only to roll them over.

Blustery conditions plagued both sides at The Mill in the early stages but after Cal Leech opened the scoring for the visitors, they didn’t look back.

Ollie Aplin and Jack Brimming joined him on the scoresheet to give Bovey a commanding lead at the break. Josh Webber notched a fourth on the hour mark and Levi Landricombe then got in on the act in the final moments.

Gerring couldn’t have been prouder about the display he saw from his side: “The Torpoint performance was unbelievable, on and off the ball, I don’t think anyone was below a nine on the day.

“It was an emphatic scoreline and that sort of level is going to be hard to replicate every week but that’s what we strive towards now.”

They really have set the bar high and will play on home soil, at the Western Counties Roofing Ground, in the first round proper.

Radstock Town are their opponents, a side whose season is yet to really get going. They may have reached this stage in the Vase but with just five points from 10 outings, the Miners are hanging perilously above the relegation zone.

There is plenty of league football to be played between now and this cup clash in mid-October but it is still an afternoon to look forward to.

On the tie, Gerring said: “We’ve got a home draw against a higher team so hopefully we can get a good crowd. We look forward to that game and hopefully, a nice Vase run.”