Women's FA Cup third qualifying round draw: Bassett travel to Torquay

Royal Wootton Bassett Town have been handed an Adobe Women's FA Cup third qualifying round trip to Torquay United as the reward for their upset victory on penalties against Ilminster Town on Sunday.

The tie is set to take place on Sunday 13 October, 2pm kick off.

Bassett's superb win against Ilminster means they have advanced to the third - and final - qualifying round of the competition for a third consecutive season.

After coming up short both previous times they have made it this far - including an agonising 1-0 defeat against AFC Stoneham last season, Bassett will be hoping it's a case of third time lucky as they aim to write club history and advance to the first round proper for the first ever time.

But to do that, they will have to again pull off a shock against tier five opposition - as well as the team they fell to a 5-2 defeat against at this stage of the competition two seasons ago.

The victory for the Gulls in 2022-23 was part of a run that took them to the second round of the Women's FA Cup - Torquay's best run since re-forming in 2013.

However, that marked only the second time in the period since 2013 that Torquay have advanced beyond the qualifying rounds, with the Gulls also reaching the first round in 2021-22.

Indeed, Bassett have previously beaten Torquay in the Women's FA Cup, romping to an 8-0 first qualifying round victory at home in 2019-20.

The teams' fortunes have changed since then though. South West Regional Women's Football League Premier Division rivals from 2019-20 through to 2022-23, that latter season saw Bassett relegated to tier six while champions Torquay earned promotion to tier four. While their stay in the FA Women's National League lasted just one season, Torquay will be aiming for an immediate return - and to complement that with a good run in the Women's FA Cup.

A 5-2 second qualifying round triumph against Plympton got them going and they will again be favourites when squaring off with another tier six opponent.

But Bassett will give it everything they have got to spring a surprise - and write club history.

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Historical details of Royal Wootton Bassett Town's participation in the Women's FA Cup are available in the history section of our website. Details of all results are listed, as well as - where information is available - line-ups and match reports. See here for details.