PAUL McGrotty says Bracknell Town players must put the FA Vase out of their minds and concentrate on Hellenic League games for the next three weeks, writes Dave Wright.

The Robins visit Coleshill in the fifth round on February 3, the Midlands League leaders having beaten Newcastle Benfield 4-2 on penalties in their replay after grabbing a stoppage-time equaliser to take the tie into extra time.

“The Coleshill tie is a long way off. We have six matches before then, three of them in the league, and those are games we need to win,” said joint-manager McGrotty.

Town defeated Lydney 4-1 at Larges Lane last Saturday to narrow the gap between themselves and runaway Premier Division leaders Highworth to 17 points with four matches in hand.

“There is still a long way to go and we know we need to win every game to keep the pressure on Highworth,” added McGrotty. “But we are also in a position where we hope other teams drop points.

“You would rather have the points on the board or be just five behind at this stage, rather than 17, but all we can do is to keep on winning.”

Their victory over Lydney extended their unbeaten home run to 12 games, but they did have to come from behind after conceding an early goal.

McGrotty continued: “That did give us an early scare, so we were pleased to go on to get the three points. We looked a bit flat at times, but perhaps that wasn’t surprising following the euphoria of our two Vase ties. Before the game Jeff (Lamb) and myself were a bit worried about that happening.

“We won without playing that well.”

TJ Bohane scored twice in the first half with Jon Bennett adding a brace in the second after making a rare appearance in the starting 11 in place of Adam Cornell, who was away working.

“Jon has been knocking on our door asking why he can’t get more minutes on the pitch, so I was pleased for him,” commented McGrotty.

Bennett is not the only player wanting to play more regularly as the joint manager confirmed.

He said: “People want to play football, but you can only start with 11.

“You need a squad of 22, so there are always going to be unhappy players, and that is a horrible part of being a manager trying to keep everyone happy. But we want everyone who is here to stay.”

One who has already left, however, is defender Adam Kirby, who signed for Ascot United last week.

“He is a good player, but it didn’t work out for him here. We hope he does well for Ascot,” said McGrotty.

Kirby made an unhappy debut for the Yellamen on Saturday, being sent off late in the first half of their 4-0 defeat at Wantage Town.