Shortwood United 0-4 Port Vale
- Published
Jennison Myrie-Williams scored twice as Port Vale set up an FA Cup second round tie with Salisbury thanks to a comfortable win over minnows Shortwood.
League One side Vale took the lead when Myrie-Williams fired home across keeper Tom King after Tom Pope picked him out.
And they doubled their advantage when King parried Pope's effort and Chris Birchall tapped home.
Vale added two late goals, winger Myrie-Williams scoring a penalty before setting up Chris Lines's header.
The result was slightly harsh on Southern League side Shortwood, who had never been in the FA Cup proper before and were playing in front of a club-record 1,247 crowd.
The eighth-tier club actually had the first chance against Vale, who are 125 places above them, with striker Duncan Culley having a shot blocked in the first minute.
Proper chances were at a premium and Vale opened the scoring with their first real opportunity after 15 minutes. Shortwood failed to deal with a long throw-in and Pope played the ball across to Myrie-Williams, who took his time to pick his spot from the edge of the area.
The goal did not seem to dishearten the Wood and within 60 seconds Jake Parrott had a shot blocked.
The Gloucestershire side were holding their own and Matthew Bennett had a go from 25 yards but it was straight at keeper Chris Neal.
However, quality showed and not long after King had to pull off a save from Lee Hughes's first-time volley, it was 2-0 as Birchall scored from a yard from a rebound after Pope's shot was saved by the Wood keeper.
That goal all but killed the game off and, although Shortwood had a series of set-pieces, they were unable to find a way back to extend an FA Cup run that started in August's preliminary round.
They were lucky not to concede a third when Pope headed Carl Dickinson's cross off the bar and then conceded twice in the final two minutes. First Myrie-Williams scored from the spot after an arguably harsh handball decision against James Coates. And then a minute later the winger set up Lines, who sealed victory with his head from close range.
Vale will now host Conference Premier side Salisbury in the second round on the weekend of 7-8 December.
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Vale boss Micky Adams told BBC Radio Stoke:
"I thought perhaps 4-0 flattered us a little bit, but we're delighted with it. It doesn't matter if you win a cup tie 1-0, 2-0 or 4-0, you're still through to the next round.
"Often you go to non-league grounds and think you've won the game before you've even played it, but I felt we put on a professional performance.
"Shortwood were a credit to their management team, but most importantly a credit to themselves.
"But we wanted to put on a show and we have done that. The early goal settled us down a lot but we played an open expansive game with two wingers and really pushed them wide."
- Published20 November 2013