HEYBRIDGE Swifts bounced back from disappointment of an early Emirates FA Cup exit to make progress in the Isuzu FA Trophy with a 3-2 win over Barton Rovers, writes JON LONGMAN.

The Swifts edged a nail-biting first qualifying round tie to progress to a contest at bogey side Waltham Abbey on Saturday week thanks in a large part to the return of Rob Harvey, who played with protection for the nasty ear wound sustained at Ipswich Wanderers.

Former Isthmian North Division rivals Abbey, now playing in the Southern League, have knocked up a string of league, cup and friendly wins over the Swifts in recent seasons, so there will have a few scores to settle.

Sam Park put the Swifts ahead against Rovers at the newly-sponsored First Call Community Stadium last Saturday with a fizzing trademark free kick in the 17th minute.

The Swifts lead lasted just 15 minutes before Jermale Olayinka equalised only for captain Quba Gordon to restore his side’s lead with a glorious header that looped over the Rovers keeper.

A disappointing crowd of 161 witnessed an entertaining game and a fabulous Ross Wall through ball enabled Swifts leading scorer Kieran Jones to slide past the Rovers keeper for his fourth goal of the season.

Maldon and Burnham Standard:

The Swifts fans then had the frustration of seeing Callum Taylor concede a soft penalty to Ollie Trott as Swifts made hard work of the tie after the drinks break, on a sweltering afternoon.

Manager Steve Tilson was unhappy about a poor tackle as Swifts hit spot-kick bother for the second successive Saturday but Rovers ran into a self-inflicted bother that left them rocking.

The were reduced to ten men when Lucas Kirkpatrick was shown a red card for a horrible high tackle on Tyler Brampton.

Swifts should have taken advantage of the weakened Rovers defence, forcing nine corners after the mini-break, but they peppered the target without success.

Swifts will visit Waltham Abbey without the services of midfield dynamo Lee Noble who has had a three-match ban confirmed after being dismissed during the FA Cup exit against Gorleston.

But they hope to have Mikey Faukner back in the squad, after a family member was rushed to hospital on the eve of the tie.

The FA Cup failure means there is no Swifts game on Saturday for the North Division leaders because, ironically, they were due to host Gorleston in a league fixture.