HAVING home advantage is proving ‘massive’ for Borussia Martlesham in the FA Sunday Cup.

The Ipswich Sunday Football League Premier Division side defeated Berkshire visitors Paggies Bar 3-0 in Sunday’s third-round tie at Woodbridge Town FC to reach the last 16 of this season's competition.

The Suffolk hosts took the lead after just four minutes through Aaron Greenwood and doubled their advantage in the 35th minute when captain Billy Traynor scored.

Woodbridge Town’s Andrew Crowe, playing on his home pitch, added the third in the 63rd minute to end any hopes the visitors had of staging a comeback.

Borussia Martlesham, who had previously beaten Potters Bar-based Strafford Arms 4-2 at home after receiving a first-round bye, will be at home again in the fourth round.

Borussia Martlesham officials watching during Sunday’s match (left to right) secretary John Dixon, chair Steve Wilding and assistant manager Max Wilding. Main photograph: Borussia Martlesham players (yellow shirts) celebrate their third goal scored by Andrew Crowe (second right) in Sunday's tie.

They will play Midlands side VIP International, who won 2-1 away to Birstall Stamford, at Woodbridge Town FC on Sunday, January 22nd, kick-off 1pm.

Assistant manager Max Wilding, who took charge of the side in the absence of manager Alan Whittaker, said: “This is only the third time we have entered this competition, so each game is a bonus for us, and we will see how far we can go.

“You have got teams from the likes of London and Liverpool, who are expected to do well, but no-one really expects a team from Suffolk to go very far.

“We have not put any pressure on ourselves in this competition. We want to win the county cup, whereas every round in this competition is a bonus for us.

“Having home advantage again in the next round is massive for us because we are miles from anywhere!”

Wilding was pleased with the way his side handled the windy conditions at Notcutts Park.

Borussia Martlesham striker Marcus Taylor (yellow shirt) takes on the Paggies Bar defence during their FA Sunday Cup tie at Woodbridge Town FC.

He said: “They won the toss and swung us round. To be honest, we would have preferred to play into the wind in the first half, but in a way, it suited us better in the second half because the wind was so strong, it was hard to play with it.

“We stuck to our game plan – we have a way of playing and we executed it down to a T.

“The half-time team talk was quite easy. We knew it was going to be more difficult against the wind, but we defended really well. We don’t concede many goals and we were very solid.”

So well did they defend that Borussia Martlesham, who had not played since the end of November, restricted the visitors to just one shot on target in the second half – and that was in the dying stages.

“The third goal was always going to be crucial as at 2-0 it can really change the course of the game, but we always felt comfortable,” added Wilding.

“It was nice to give two of our 17-year-olds – Joe McNeil, who plays for Leiston Reserves, and Ethan Westaway, who is in his first season in men’s football – some minutes.”