Shane Baptiste's Woodford Town secured their place in the hat for the Preliminary Round draw of the Emirates FA Cup with a 4-0 away victory against Spartan South Midlands Football League side Colney Heath!

The affair got off to a cagey start, and after just 9 minutes, the visitors were forced into their first change of the afternoon, with Miles Mitchell-Nelson unable to continue; he was replaced by Aamir Stanford-Daniels, who filled in brilliantly at right-back after a re-shuffle of the back-line.

However, Marko Protic settled the nerves with his strike in the 13th minute! He played David Gokou in behind down the left-hand side before continuing into the penalty area, where he was on hand to give The Woods the lead, punishing the hosts for leaving him unmarked.

Just over midway through the opening half, Shane Baptiste had to call upon reinforcements once again. This time, it was Normand Kebi who pulled up, and he was replaced by debutant Yannis Mengou, who produced a fine display in the heart of the midfield. The constant stoppages meant that the game lost its rhythm that it had discovered after a shaky start, but that didn't deter Woodford.

Minutes before the half-time whistle blew, Protic raced forwards in midfield and slipped in Ollie Sotoyinbo, our number nine stayed cool, calm and collected to curl an effort past the onrushing goalkeeper and double our lead. That goal was a real kick spanner in the works for the hosts, as just three minutes after the break, Peter Angelov was brought down inside the area, gifting Sotoyinbo the chance to secure a brace and score his fifth goal in just three matches, which he did comfortably!

With the tie all but over now, Shane Baptiste opted to use the last of his remaining three substitutions in the 54th minute, bringing off Sotoyinbo, Gokou and Mike Agboola and replacing them with Eli Benoit, Alex Kozak and Gabriel Ipanga. The latter would go on to cause major issues for The Magpies' defence, and would get his reward for his persistent work with two minutes of the ninety to go. A short back-pass saw Ipanga race in to nick the ball, he rounded the goalkeeper before rolling it into an empty net to end the tie for good!

Woodford will face either Harlow Town or Saffron Walden Town in the next stage, with that tie to be played on Saturday, 16th August. Our opponents will be confirmed on Tuesday night, when the two sides lock horns in their Extra Preliminary Round replay.

Starting XI: Chinyere (GK); Steele, Kirwan-Meade (C), M. Agboola (Benoit - 54'), Mitchell-Nelson (Stanford-Daniels - 9'); Toussaint, Kebi (Mengou - 25'); Angelov, Protic, Gokou (Ipanga - 54'); Sotoyinbo (Kozak - 54').

Unused substitutes: E. Agboola (GK)