SHOLING, the 2014 FA Vase winners, endured some unexpected late drama before taking their place in lunchtime's second round draw.

The Boatmen face a tough trip to Western Premier high-fliers Buckland Athletic on November 21 after beating Laverstock & Ford 3-1 on Saturday.

But, for a while, they wondered if they would have to play Laverstock all over again due a late collision between Lavvy keeper Acer Burton and Sholing forward Barry Mason which halted the action just shy of 90 minutes at the Silverlake Arena.

Mason got up, but Burton had a deeply cut knee and received attention from Sholing physio Tasha Bowers and two first-aiders while they waited for an ambulance to arrive.

Both clubs texted the result to the FA and Sydenhams League as a 3-1 Sholing win but, much to the Boatmen’s surprise, it later appeared on the FA website as an 88th-minute abandonment based on the referee's report.

Boatmen’s secretary Greg Dickson said: “A lot of people think that if 75 minutes has been played the result stands, but the FA rule states that if the first match is postponed or abandoned before the completion of 90 minutes, it has to be replayed by the following Thursday.

“My watch recorded 94 minutes when the players started shaking hands and the referee Nigel Whitfield blew to indicate the end of the game and at no point was it indicated that the match had been abandoned.

“Dave Diaper (Sholing boss) and Rob Lakeman, the Laverstock manager, agreed that would be the end of the game and when I spoke to Chris Darnell at the FA this morning he said he hoped common sense would prevail.

“I tracked down Rob Lakeman and he emailed the FA stating that both managers had agreed to call a halt to the game at the point when the injury happened.”

Team boss Diaper said: “It was all a bit confusing but it’s been sorted and we’ve landed a tough draw at Buckland. They’re fourth in their league and I’ve seen the video of their 5-0 win at New Milton on Saturday. They look quite decent.”

Sholing did most of the hard work in the first half against Laverstock with goals by Dougie Rowe – his first since returning to the club – and Dan Mason putting them 2-0 up.

Mason struck again in the 53rd minute, superbly controlling a long ball forward and turning his marker before firing in his 19th goal of a prolific campaign.

With the game won, Diaper’s men eased off and Rob Gallagher pulled one back for Lavvy.

Sholing stage another big game at the Silverlake Arena tomorrow (Tuesday, 7.45pm) when their under-18s take on Newport County in the FA Youth Cup first round proper.

FA Vase, second round draw (local ties), to be played November 21: Bristol Manor Farm v Lymington Town, Buckland Athletic v Sholing, Hallen v Moneyfields, Newport (IoW) v Abbey Rangers, Salisbury v AFC St Austell, Tadley Calleva v Haywards Heath Town, Whitchurch Utd or Welton Rovers v Plymouth Parkway or Blackfield & Langley.