FALMOUTH Town reached the third round of the FA Vase for the second year running after beating Bishop's Cleeve 2-1 in an eventful second round tie at Bickland Park.

Luke Brabyn put Town in front in the fourth minute before Ashley Caldwell levelled shortly before the break, only for Luke Barner to restore the lead in first-half stoppage time.

Neither side could add to the scoreline after the break but the half was not without incident, with Bishop’s Cleeve pair Matt Sysum and Archie Haskayne being sent off after a tackle on Scott Kellow sparked a mass brawl in the dying minutes.

Town will now visit Christchurch in the third round next weekend after the Wessex League side won their second round tie in Dorset.

The tie got off to the perfect start for Town as they took the lead inside five minutes. David Broglino starts a swift move by playing it out wide to Tim Nixon, who surged down the left flank and crossed to Brabyn, who made no mistake from the centre of the box.

Besides a good spell of play shortly after the goal and a decent effort from Bishop’s Cleeve man Morgan Evans, it was more a question of whether Town could extend their advantage.

Barner missed two chances to do so, including one curling effort that flew millimetres wide of the far post, while Brabyn also had a good strike from a fine solo run as Town failed to find a second.

That came back to haunt them when the visitors won a penalty in the 38th minute. Town ‘keeper Ryan Barnes did superbly to dive to his right and save Stephen Davies’ kick, but the joy was short-lived with Caldwell heading home an equaliser less than two minutes later after Town failed to clear their lines.

But the first-half drama did not end there as Town restored their lead deep into stoppage time. Broglino’s well-struck free-kick was parried straight to Barner by goalkeeper Mateusz Wieczorek, with the Town winger on hand to bundle the rebound over the line from six yards.

Town started on the front foot after the break and were close to extending their advantage. James Ward headed wide before a vital interception stopped Brabyn from tapping home Barner’s low cross, with visiting substitute Leroy Odiero clearing another one off the line soon after.

Knowing they had work to do to reach the next round, Bishop’s Cleeve responded and dominated for the next few minutes but couldn’t find a way past Barnes, who did well to tip Sam Blackie’s strike away from danger.

Town escaped their opponents’ clutches once again in the 75th minute and spurned three chances to score inside 60 seconds. First Nixon curled a shot wide before Brabyn fired over the bar from 12 yards, with the forward’s low cross to home debutant George Cantellow eight yards out being snuffed out by Wieczorek.

Another massive chance to seal the victory went begging with ten minutes to play when Barner won possession 25 yards out and laid it off to the unmarked Nixon on the left of the box, but the winger’s shot was well saved by Wieczorek.

The game boiled over in the final few minutes after Scott Kellow was caught late by a Bishop’s Cleeve man, sparking a melee involving players and management and resulting in red cards for both Sysum and Haskayne, while Barnes collected a booking.

Falmouth: R Barnes, T Annear, O Moody (J Webber HT), S Kellow, T Clark, J Ward, L Barner, R Martt (G Cantellow 65), L Brabyn, D Broglino, T Nixon. Subs: S Pickup, D Blizzard, A Westgarth, J Miller, C Davis.

Bishop’s Cleeve: M Wieczorek, L Dovey, M Pritchett (L Odiero 57), A Caldwell, M Sysum, A Haskayne, B Waugh, S Blackie, S Davies (T Tucker-Dixon 65), I Crowe, M Evans (H Iddles HT). Subs (unused): E Ward, L Price.