Shelley at the double as EP progress in cup

Joe Shelley bagged a first-half brace as EP banked £1,925 prize money and booked their place in the first qualfying round, where they will travel to Ryman League side Peacehaven & Telscombe.

East Preston boss Dominic Di Paola was pleased with his side’s performance and said: “I thought we played really well against a really good side.

“In the last round, we played Sevenoaks and Holmesdale are in the same league and both have given us a tough test.

“We created a number of chances in the first half and could have been further ahead. In the second half, we battened down the hatches and preserved our lead but over the 90 minutes, I felt we were deserving of the win.”

East Preston began well and could have gone ahead but Shelley failed to find the target with a header.

Shelley made up for his miss on 25 minutes, though, when he tapped home after Holmesdale keeper Alex Hyde parried a Darren Boswell shot.

It was 2-0 just eight minutes later when Boswell teed up Shelley, who rolled the ball home from close range.

Holmesdale did pull a goal back with 15 minutes to go through substitute Daniel Stewart, but EP held on to progress.

East Preston lost to Peacehaven on penalties in the Sussex Community Shield last month, and on facing them in the next round, Di Paola said: “We played them in the Sussex Community Shield a few weeks ago. In that match they dominated possession but I felt we had the better chances and could have beaten them.

“We had a couple of players missing that day and I know we are going to be missing a few again for that game.

“But we will give it a good go and, hopefully, we can pick up a positive result at their place.”

EAST PRESTON: Collick; Duncan, Pullan, Farmer, O’Hagan; Axell, Hunt, Shelley, Boswell; Herbert, McBride. Subs: Charles (McBride), Baitup (Boswell), Thetford (Herbert), Boddy.