Presley leaves Levens all shook up as hattrick sees Fairford advance in the FA Cup

Alfie Presley’s second hand hattrick saw Fairford Town advance in the FA Cup, coming from behind to beat Longlevens 5-1 at Saw Mills.

Presley’s treble was accompanied by a Dan Grieve double as Jamie Reid and Sam Collier’s side produced a clinical second 45 minutes to set up a Preliminary Round tie at home to Roman Glass St George in two weeks time.

Longlevens had been in front through Lewis Driscoll’s free kick, but they came back to earth with a bump, following a 5-1 win of their own in midweek.

For the visitors, they secured their first win of the season after a 1-1 draw in their Hellenic League opener on Tuesday night.

The game started with Longlevens looking nervous in possession and Fairford looking to get on the front foot early on.

But it was the hosts who would strike first, with Driscoll curling in a beautiful free kick after winning it himself, about 20 yards out.

Both sides cancelled each other out as the first half wore on, with Fairford having the initiative but unable to break down a stubborn back line.

That was until 10 minutes before the break, as a long throw came into the box and after the ball was flicked on, Dan Grieve guided his header into the bottom corner.

From there, Fairford seized control and nearly took the lead before the break, but Presley’s long range effort just about deflected wide.

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The second half started with both sides as committed into the tackle as you’d expect, but again, Fairford had the better of the early play.

Fin Hopkins cut in from the left to an effort saved by Billy Thomas, but the introduction of Tino Shumba on 64 minutes turned the game on it’s head.

At that point, Longlevens were just starting to stir and have a couple of moments in attack, but three goals in ten minutes saw the tie over as a contest.

First, Shumba beat Jay Wells down the right hand side, got to the byline and cut back for Presley to tap home his first, before another long throw in came into the box and once again Longlevens couldn’t stop Grieve firing home.

Hopkins and Shumba then combined in the counter, with the latter then combining with Grieve, before Presley curled home beautifully from 18 yards.

And Presley would add his third late on, beating Ollie Long to the ball, before firing past Thomas to complete the rout.

Both sides are back in league action in midweek after this weekend’s FA Cup results, with Fairford Town hosting Slimbridge on Tuesday night and Longlevens welcoming Hereford Pegasus the following evening.

Longlevens: Thomas, Roddis, Wells, Long, R Williams, Holmes, Beardsell, C Williams, Driscoll, O’Connor, Sutherland

Subs: Byard, Belboda, Sherchan, Knight, Price, Lodge, Sargeant

Fairford Town: Johns, Birkett, Hill, Hall, Hitchman, Way, Cook, Ouldridge, Grieve, Presley, Hopkins

Subs: Grabe, McCrae, Shumba, Chamberlain, Odiero, Mitchell

C Martin Roofing Man of the Match – Tino Shumba (Fairford Town)