NEWENT Town are through to second qualifying round of the FA Vase after overcoming higher level opposition in Bradford Town.

Town went into the break 2-0 to good at Wildsmith Meadow but had to show resilience and determination after the visitors levelled the score early in the second half.

Newent eventually ran out 4-2 winners against the Western League Premier side to book a home tie against Kenysham Town in the next round.

The Daffs took the lead after 10 minutes when skipper Dylan Hart latched onto a great long ball and gave Bradford keeper Tom Creed no chance.

In a half where both sides were evenly matched, Bradford came back with a couple of chances for Josiah McKayle.

The Newent defence dealt with the threats with keeper Leyton Joyce making some top drawer saves.

Town doubled the advantage on 25 minutes with a scorcher from Stuart Fleetwood.

Spotting that Creed was off his line, he sent over a perfectly-weighted lob from 35 yards that left the Bradford stopper helpless.

The visitors went close when McKayle hit the post and the ball was cleared.

They had another chance before the half ended but the shot went wide.

Bradford started the second half with determination as they sought to close the gap and they pulled one back after 50 minutes.

Tom Mack’s curler from outside the box left Joyce with no chance as it found the top left of the goal.

The momentum was now firmly with the visitors who enjoyed most of the possession in the second half.

Mack went close again but saw his effort go over the bar but on the hour he beat several defenders before laying the ball off to Leo Gallazi to level the scores.

Newent appeared to be in for a painful final 30 but they restored their lead from the penalty spot.

With 10 minutes to go, captain Hart stepped up to covert the pressure kick which also saw a red card for Jack Marion.

The win was secured a couple of minutes later as Newent put pressure on the Bradford goal.

An initial shot was parried away but straight into the path of Man-of-the-Match Jaber Ahmed who drilled home the opportunity.

Bradford continued to press but could find no way through the Newent defence and at the final whistle it was 4-2.

Following the win, joint manager Luke Handley said: “Emotions are running high – a 4-2 win in the Vase against higher-ranked opposition.

“Disappointing to come out from the half and concede two goals as quickly as we did.

But that being said, each and every one of them showed good fight to go on win the game 4-2

“So overall, we'll take the positive and we're very happy the result.”

Joint manager Zaq Hussain added: “Coming out after half-time to concede goals but to show the fight and the desire, I think we can go on and do positive things this season.”