POPPIES boss Ken Vaughan will finally allow himself to dream of Wembley after his side comfortably defeated Barnstaple Town to reach the last 32 of the FA Vase.

Second-half goals from Jake Rowley and Martin Warren pushed Poppies into the fourth round for the first time in their 135-year history.

“I’ll probably have a few fantasies about Wembley tonight,” Vaughan told the Daily Echo after the match.

“Making history and the way we went about it makes me feel really good. It was nice to get through that round and, hopefully, we will get a nice draw in the next one.

“We just want a good home tie and, if we get that, the bells will start ringing. If we can get a bit of luck, that would be great, but whatever we get we will deal with it.”

The hosts largely controlled the game, but first-half saves from visiting goalkeeper Luke Purnell kept Poppies at bay.

Rowley slotted home just after the hour mark, but only after Purnell had pulled off a remarkable double save from Pinder and Dave Ewen.

Barnstaple had a brief flurry towards the end, with Poppies defenders Joe Byrne and Max Crow playing through the pain barrier.

However, Warren sealed the victory in the fourth minute of added time, rounding off Fawzi Saadi’s unselfish pass.

Vaughan added: “The lads definitely wanted it and they played really well.

“We had a couple of options on the bench but I didn’t want to disrupt it – the grit and determination they showed was phenomenal.

“James Pinder has had a back problem for some time, but I felt even if we got half a dozen runs out of him one of them would tell. It paid off through our first goal and from there we went from strength to strength.”

The historic match also signalled the return of Rowley after a brief spell with Bashley, and Vaughan confirmed that he would remain at Victoria Park for the rest of the season.

He added: “Jake had a couple of weeks at Bashley but the travelling was immense for him with his studies, so he’ll be here with us while he finishes his term.

“Steve Riley (Bashley manager) has said he is still interested in him going there next year, but it’s nice to have him back – he just wants to enjoy his football for now.

“We’ve always wanted to push him on but he finds the travelling too much at this time.”