TRURO City boss John Askey wants his side to go ‘as far as we possibly can’ after ending their five-year wait for a victory in the FA Cup last night.

The Tinners knocked out Welsh outfit Merthyr Town 2-0 in a Second Qualifying Round replay at the Truro City Stadium as goals from Will Dean and Ben Starkie set up a home tie with Hellenic Premier Division outfit Cirencester Town on Saturday, October 3, who produced a shock 2-1 success over the Cornish side’s league rivals Farnham Town.

A delighted Askey said: “It's a great competition and obviously the further you can go, then obviously it creates a lot of interest in the football club.

"We’ll hopefully go as far as we possibly can and we’ve got a draw at home against a team who are obviously in a couple of leagues below, so it's a great opportunity to progress, but we want to take it wider.”

The Tinners needed Tom Harrison’s injury-time leveller on Saturday to set up a replay - and clearly determined to use that frustration as fuel, Merthyr started by the far better side.

However, Truro went in front on 25 minutes via Dean’s spot-kick after brother Tom was fouled.

Chances came and went in front of a midweek crowd of 913, but they got the all-important second just five minutes after the break via winger Ben Starkie.

Truro then held on comfortably enough to enjoy that winning feeling in the world’s oldest cup competition for the first since seeing off Exmouth Town back in the 2021/22 campaign.

“The longer the game went I thought it was only going to be one winner,” added Askey. “It was good play leading up to the penalty and Tom Dean’s done really well. Getting one in front changes the game and I think from then on we've got the momentum and they never seemed to get another foothold in the game.”

Gloucestershire-based Cirencester play at Step Five of the Non-League pyramid, three below Truro, however Askey is warning against complacency as they look to give themselves the chance to potentially set up a big tie in the First Round for just the second time in their history having famously been drawn away to former Premier League side Charlton Athletic back in 2017.

He concluded: “To get drawn at home is a big plus for us. We’ve got to be aware that it’s a great opportunity for us, but they’ll be trying to cause a cup upset, as we’re hoping to do if we get further.

"If you're not at it, no matter who you play against, then you can come unstuck in the cup, but we'll enjoy tonight and then we'll think about that when it comes along."

Truro resume their promotion push in National League South on Saturday as they head to Kent to tackle Maidstone United (3pm).

TRURO CITY v Merthyr Town: Stone; Bell, Riley-Lowe (capt), W Dean, Harrison, Greenslade, Stretton (Jephcott, 78), Starkie (En-Neyah, 78), Kinsey, T Dean, Tweedy. Subs not used: Lavercombe (gk), Donnellan, Love-Holmes, Nunn, Law.