Football / Non-League Notebook: Big Shots are aiming high to reach their target

THERE is little doubt that the largest crowd in tomorrow's third round of the FA Vase will be watching Aldershot Town tackle their Diadora League Second Division rivals, Malden Vale, at the Recreation Ground.

The Shots have gone from strength to strength since they rose from the ashes of the former Football League club, Aldershot FC, in the summer of 1992. They won the Diadora Third Division by 18 points in their first season, and this term they are well placed to gain promotion once more.

Unlike last season, however, they are not dominating their division. Last Saturday, in front of an all-ticket crowd of 2,150, the Shots lost their first game of the campaign when they went down 3-2 at the league leaders, Chertsey Town, whose side included Kenny Sansom, the former England left-back.

Aldershot bounced back, though, with a 1-0 home win over Barton Rovers on Tuesday, and they now trail Chertsey only on goal difference. In third place, seven points behind the Shots with three games in hand, are Newbury Town, who, like Chertsey, enjoy the benefit of wealthy backers, and employ several former Reading professionals on a full-time basis.

No club in the Diadora League, however, can match Aldershot's level of support - their average crowd is around 2,000. Their best gate in 1992-93 was 5,961 for a Hampshire Senior Cup tie against Farnborough, but they could surpass that at their last league match of this season: the return fixture against Chertsey on 7 May.

The Shots are hoping to be otherwise engaged on that date, though - contesting the Vase final. Aldershot FC never made it to Wembley: they beat Wolves in the 1986-87 Fourth Division play-off final, but in those days it was a two-leg home-and-away affair. Tomorrow their successors will concentrate on reaching the last 32 of the tournament, which they are entering for the first time.

The Shots can look west for two other good bets to make the last four of the Vase: last season's beaten finalists, Tiverton, and Taunton, both of the Great Mills League. Tiverton, who have a 100 per cent league record this season, travel to Tonbridge tomorrow, while Taunton, whose only blemish is one drawn league game, entertain Barnstaple.