ALDERSHOT Town will return to Southampton's St Mary's Stadium in May after winning an eventful Hampshire Senior Cup semi-final with Jewson Wessex League battlers Andover.
Three goals came in the first nine minutes of the second leg at the Portway Stadium on Tuesday night before Aldershot pulled rank to some degree to hold the home side 2-2 and run out comfortable 4-2 aggregate winners.
Aldershot thus have their fourth final in five years to look forward to, but Terry Brown was not in the mood to look ahead beyond immediate league matters.
"Believe me, it will mean nothing to me if we are unable to parade the league championship," said the manager who has to steer Aldershot though an 11-game minefield, with obstacles in the way such as Hayes, Basingstoke, St Albans, Hendon (twice), Purfleet and their main rivals, Canvey Island.
The fact that Aldershot picked up no injuries and only one booking was of more importance to Brown.
"Andover probably wanted it more than us, but we did just enough to come through," he said.
Neither did Brown over-enthuse about the early brace of goals from Lee Charles. "Lee is an engima. He's got all the ability in the world, but he tends to drift out of games and that can be very frustrating. He's mastered the art of evading tackles. Too often, there's not enough there."
Charles' latent quality was clear when he scored a goal timed at 20 seconds, finishing clinically after some smart work on the left by his namesake, Anthony Charles.
But Andover were unfazed by that lightning blow and equalised on seven minutes when Justin Bennett, their best player, controlled the ball skilfully with his chest before sending a fierce shot past Gareth Howells in the Shots goal.
The frenetic opening continued as the holders restored their lead two minutes later, Lee Charles this time scoring with a sweet volley after a cross from Mark Hammond.
The cup-tie settled down after that, with Aldershot having the edge up to half-time. Steve Perkins and the lively Hammond kept Keiron Drake busy in Andover's goal and Jamie Taylor was just high with a near-post header.
However, Andover's refusal to throw in the towel made it a genuine contest and underlined the importance of Michael Harper's injury-time goal in the first leg.
The underdogs levelled the scores on the night midway through the second half when Bennett, punishing some slack work in the visitors' defence, scored with a low drive into the bottom corner.
Aldershot, with a number of 'fringe' players in their side, were never going to surrender their advantage and played out time without too many alarms.
Aldershot: Howells, Hammond (Chewins 85), A Charles (Nutter 57), Cousins, Warburton, Sterling, Perkins, Holsgrove, Taylor (Harper 64), L Charles, Buckle. Subs (not used) Browne, Bull (g/k). Booked: Cousins.
The final will be played on Thursday, May 8 and Aldershot's opponents will be Bashley, managed by former Aldershot professional Barry Blankley.
Bashley, currently third in the Dr Martens League Eastern Division, beat Havant & Waterlooville in their semi-final, but suffered a setback in the league on Tuesday, losing 1-0 at Chatham.
Aldershot fans will remember Blankley as a wholehearted full-back who played a few seasons in the 1980s. He also played schoolboy football for the Aldershot District side.