Tanner puts seal on exit for Khalsa

THE two youngest clubs left in the Vase met at Gay Dawn Farm and it was Corinthian who marched into the last 8 with a convincing 3-0 win over Sporting Khalsa.

Corinthian manager Michael Golding was delighted with the result. “We were comfortable and getting the early goal helped settle us. The two long trips we made to the Midlands to watch Khalsa paid off. We knew the quality they had all over the pitch but the lads did exactly what we asked and we deserved to go through.”

Khalsa were the first to show with a set piece into the penalty area that the home side struggled to clear but that was about as good as it got for the visitors in a lacklustre opening 45 minutes.

The hosts squandered two openings before their vital early goal as Jack Mahoney’s corner was met by Jamie Billings, grandson of club founder Ron Billings, who powered his header past Sam Arnold.

It marked a spell of pressure for Corinthian and Josh Stirman fired wide of the far post when a second goal looked likely.

Despite a spell on the ropes in what was proving to be a physical encounter there were signs of hope for Khalsa approaching halftime although a couple of long-range efforts from Jake Gosling and Liam Armstrong were too high to trouble keeper Aiden Prall.

The second half saw Khalsa’s best chance when Carlo Franco headed a cross back into the box but Josh McKenzie was met by a barrage of defenders and he was denied.

On the hour mark Mahoney’s 25-yarder was saved by Arnold but Oscar Housego pounced on the rebound to score.

It went from bad to worse for Khalsa as the tie was sealed 12 minutes later as Luke Tanner fired past Arnold while McKenzie came closest to pulling one back but his effort rebounded off the post.