FA Vase final: Beavon in father's footsteps

AFC Sudbury 2 - Didcot Town 3

Stuart Beavon, of the Hellenic League side Didcot Town, scored twice yesterday as his team won the FA Vase at White Hart Lane, where his father played as a Tottenham youngster.

Stuart Beavon, of the Hellenic League side Didcot Town, scored twice yesterday as his team won the FA Vase at White Hart Lane, where his father played as a Tottenham youngster.

Ridgeons Premier League side Sudbury were left facing their third consecutive final loss when defender Shane Wardley scored an own goal, giving Didcot a 2-1 lead, three minutes after hitting a spectacular equaliser for Sudbury. The 25-year-old, who took six months to score his first Sudbury goal after joining from Cambridge City last year, deflected a Paul Powell ball past his own goalkeeper after 68 minutes.

Success in this competition has been something of a crusade for Sudbury after the disappointments of earlier years, but yesterday was not their day. Although they were the better side in the first half, they failed to turn their possession into goals.

Didcot, in their first appearance in the final, had a dangerous combination in Beavon and Ian Concannon up front. The strikers kept the Sudbury defence on permanent alert and combined well for the first goal eight minutes into the second half. Concannon won a loose ball and transferred it quickly to Beavon whose low drive beat goalkeeper Dean Greygoose.

Didcot's Dave Green came close to settling the match with a fierce drive before Wardley took centre stage with a goal at each end. The predatory Beavon wrapped the game up with a close-range finish two minutes into stoppage time, but there was still time for Neil Calver to pull one back for Sudbury from the penalty spot.