Miller brilliance sends Tadley Calleva through in FA Vase
Tadley Calleva impressed on Saturday as they went through to the next round of the FA Vase.
Ivybridge Town were the opponents, having endured a three hour coach trip from just outside Plymouth.
This didn’t seem to dent their enthusiasm however, as they opened the scoring after just three minutes thanks to a controversial penalty.
This left Calleva with plenty of work to do, but chances were few and far between in the first half hour, with Tadley unable to generate a shot on goal in this period.
In the 34th minute however, a breakthrough.
Sonny Haynes set off on a penetrating run across the pitch, taking multiple Ivybridge players out of the game.
He played in Alex Miller, who exploited the vacated space to slot home an equaliser.
The job was far from done however, as Tadley set about piling on the pressure.
A certain goal was blocked in desperate fashion by Ivybridge’s defenders, with three shots being cleared just before half time.
A corner in the 42 minute would present Calleva with a gift however, as an Alex Miller corner was placed right on top of the keeper, who tipped it into his own net to give Tadley the lead and Miller his brace.
As the second half got underway, Tadley’s progression was far from certain.
Few noteworthy chances fell to either side until Miller injected life back into the game with 72 on the clock.
He beat his man and fired a ball across the box, with Kieran Rodgers and Sheldon Wright unable to connect.
It was Wright who would eventually put the game to bed, as he cut into the box in the 88th minute and fired home to put Tadley out of sight.
The 3-1 win puts Tadley through to the second round of the FA Vase for the first time since 2015, with Miller taking home a deserved Man of the Match award.