Great Wakering Rovers bowed out of the FA Vase as they were defeated 4-1 by Spartan South Midlands Premier side Biggleswade United.

Tommy Reynolds and a brace by Liam Smyth gave the visitors a commanding halftime lead before a late goal by Ryan Lewis all but sealed their place in the next round before Rovers gaffer Marcus Bowers grabbed a late consolation for his side.

The day was already made difficult from the start as Marcus had a number of key players unavailable.

Rovers will now settle their concentration on the league now they are out of both national cups.

Kickoff:

The visitors were straight on the front foot from the first minute.

Straight from kickoff, their first effort came from Scott Metcalfe when he received the ball out wide and cut inside before seeing his curling effort rattle off the cross bar.

Four minutes later Liam Brookes was played through on goal and Rovers custodian George Marsh stood tall to halt the advancing forward and pulled off a good save with an outstretched leg.

On 18 minutes however, Rovers caught the visitors on the counter attack. A good move down the left found Wesley Mbedzi in the attacking third on the edge of the box and struck a thunderous effort which Karl Davey did well to tip over the bar. From the resulting corner, they went close again as Mitchell Arthur’s header just went over the bar.

The visitors continued to knock on the door however and continued to play the ball around. They soon made the breakthrough as they took the lead just before the half hour mark.

They earned a corner on the right and an in-swinging corner found Tommy Reynolds at the back post to head in.

In a matter of minutes, the visitors doubled their lead 30 minutes in when the ever dangerous Liam Smyth received the ball out wide before cutting inside and fired in at the near post.

Rovers attempted to get going but Biggleswade United were well organised and didn’t allow them to have any clear cut opportunities.

Just before the break, they added a third when good player down the right was played across the box and Liam Smith tapped in for his brace.

Halftime: Rovers 0-3 Biggleswade United

The second half was more of the same and it was just damage limitation for the Rovers.

The visitors controlled much of the game and limited their chances but Rovers did well to limit their chances.

With five minutes left to play, the visitors grabbed their fourth when a winger burst down the right on a counter attack and crossed the ball across goal to substitute Ryan Lewis to tap in unmarked.

Deep into stoppage time, Rovers grabbed a late consolation goal when Ezra Agyiri’s corner in was bundled in by gaffer Marcus Bowers.

Fulltime: Rovers 1-4 Biggleswade United

Unfortunately not Rovers day, best of luck to Biggleswade United in the next round.

It’s now a big week for Rovers to prepare for as they play two matches in a space of four days with a visit to Dunmow Town on Wednesday night in the Essex Senior Cup before a trip to Barking to face Romford on Saturday.