GARY Norton is happy with the draw for the fourth round of the FA Vase after his Gresley side were given a home tie against either Southend Manor or Three Bridges.
The Moatmen will play the tie on January 21 after they brushed aside Gornal Athletic 4-2 in the third round on Saturday.
Norton, whose side won with goals from Dean Oliver (2), Richard Hanslow and Gareth Langford, was hoping for a home tie and got what he wanted in yesterday’s draw.
“As I’ve said before, I wanted a home tie,” said the Gresley boss.
“I couldn’t have wished for more and it’s our third home draw on the run.
“We certainly don’t want a replay!”
Southend Manor and Three Bridges will replay their third round tie at Three Bridges’ Jubilee Fields ground tonight, kick-off 7.45pm — with Manor favourites.
The Southend side sit fourth in the Essex Senior League Premier Division — step five of the non-league pyramid, the same as the Midland Alliance, where Gresley are in fourth spot.
They got to the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup this season, where they lost 3-1 to Conference outfit Kettering Town.
Crawley-based Three Bridges, meanwhile, are in Sussex County League Division One, at step nine of the pyramid.
They sit in sixth spot but will find it tough to beat Manor, although they secured a 0-0 draw against their lofty opponents on Saturday.
“Both sides are doing very well in their leagues,” said Norton, who is now preparing to concentrate on getting to the top of the Midland Alliance. “Neither side are any mugs.
“It’s going to be a tough game but we’ve got home advantage which is a big thing for us.
“But we put the Vase to the back of our minds now.
“The tie isn’t until January 21 so we need to put it on the back burner.
“The key thing is it’s at home.” With Gresley out of league action at the weekend and Rocester beating Highgate United 2-0, the Moatmen dropped to fourth in the table.
However, Norton’s men have three games in hand on top side Coventry Sphinx and are just six points off the pace.
“The plan was to be in the mix at Christmas and provided we get a couple of positive results between now and then, we will be,” said Norton.
“We know we can do a little bit better in certain respects.”
