Bracknell Town 2 Malvern Town 0

In a dour and dull affair at Larges Lane, Bracknell Town advanced to the next round of the FA Trophy courtesy of a goal in either half.

After the FA Cup fiasco, which saw Bracknell removed from the competition for fielding an ineligible player, the prize money of £2,000 and a home tie against Premier Division side Swindon Supermarine is a welcome relief.

With captain Neil Baker out injured, the return of Bradley Edmunds provided a timely boost for manager Byron Walton although the defending from both sides was extremely lackadaisical  throughout.

Scott Morris and Jamie Hyde both shot wide for the visitors early on, while Chris Allen’s free-kick was saved by Max Aneke.

Nathan Jack almost opened the scoring, but his lobbed effort went over.

Bracknell opened the scoring when Jack latched onto a monstrous throw from keeper Aneke to drive towards goal, rounding both Aaron Drake and Humphries to coolly slot home.

The second half continued in the same vein with chances few and far between.

Shaun Grant sent a drive narrowly wide, while Ben Edwards fired left of goal for the home side.

The visitors made changes, and some horrendous defending almost let in Morris to score, but Aneke was equal to the effort.

Wes Joyce had a free-kick sail harmlessly wide, and Andy Crowther’s hooked shot never troubled the goal.

The game was made safe in the 82nd minute as an Errol Telemaque pass released Jack whose shot was smothered by the keeper but the ball fell kindly to Ian Harvey who side-footed home.

With time running out, Walton was able to bring on youngsters Michael Watson and Luke Walsh for their first taste of first-team action.

Bracknell look to protect their unbeaten home record next weekend as Andover are the visitors to Larges Lane with attention once again turned to the league.

Bracknell Town: Aneke, Dexter, Woodruffe, Edmunds, Buck, Grant (Walsh), Harvey, Edwards, Jack (Watson), Telemaque, McIntosh (Kennedy). Sub not used: Baker.