STOURPORT Swifts boss Mark Phillips admits he doesn’t know what to expect from the side’s next FA Vase opponents after his team overcame Shirebrook Town in the first round.

Swifts reached the second round of the cup for the first time in 16 years after a late winner from Aaron Lloyd sealed a 3-2 victory at Walshes Meadow on Saturday.

Shirebrook’s Kieron Watson put his side in front from the penalty spot with a minute to go before the interval, but the hosts hit back with two goals in two minutes from Ben Priest and Nick MacPherson early in the second half.

With just 15 minutes remaining in the match Watson notched his second to level for Shirebrook, but with extra time looming, Lloyd was on hand to fire Swifts through to the next round with his 15th goal of the season.

Phillips said he was happy to make it into the draw for the second round, especially as he felt factors went against his side.

He said: “I don’t think we played particularly well in the first half, but it was a difficult game because they were tough to break down.

“We were subject to a very poor refereeing decision as the penalty which put them 1-0 up was never a penalty. Calling it a harsh decision would be an understatement.

“At half time I told the players to just keep doing what they were doing as we would eventually find a way through.

“So overall I was happy just to make it into the next round.”

Swifts will face a trip to Kimberley Miners Welfare, from the East Midlands Counties League Premier Division, in the second round of the FA Vase, with the game scheduled for November 11.

Phillips added: “It’s going to be a tough game, because as well as having to travel to Nottingham, we just don’t know what we’re going to get.

“If you get drawn against a team from your own league, or even the divisions above or below, you have an idea what to expect and you can put a game plan in place, but we don’t know anything about them.

“They must be a good side to get to this stage of the competition, so we’ll just have to play to the best of our ability and hopefully that will be good enough.”

But before that, Swifts will be at home on Saturday for a Midland League Premier tie against high-flying Sporting Khalsa (3pm kick-off).