United made the short trip to the Eagle Valley ground on Saturday to face Arnold Town in the first round of the FA Vase and with an evolving squad came away with a 2-nil victory that owed much to a sterling defensive display in which Dean Whiley, Gary Breach and ‘keeper Ross Whalin were outstanding.

Matt Weightman and Michael Martin were both still unavailable and Nathan Parker had not fully recovered from injury, though he was named as one of the United substitutes. Isaac Marshall retained his position at the centre of defence after making a strong debut the previous week and Shaun Rickford returned to the starting line-up after serving out a three match suspension. Will Mellors-Blair passed a late fitness test and Jacob Webster and Josh Hooley were named as substitutes alongside Parker.

On the opening day of the season the two teams met in an NCEL league game at the same venue and the encounter had ended with the teams sharing the points in a 1-1 draw. However, United entered the tie on Saturday on the back of four successive league defeats.

From the outset both teams tried hard to assert their authority on the contest but more often than not moves broke down and the final product, particularly on the part of the home side, was lacking.

United’s best early effort came after ten minutes when Zakk Hilton cut in from the left to fire in a strong shot that was parried by Martin Kearney in the Arnold goal and cleared to safety by a defender. In a five minutes spell soon afterwards Arnold’s Josh Garner had a couple of wayward attempts on goal and Whalin produced a good save when under pressure.

After the home side had spurned three corners in quick succession United got the breakthrough midway through the half. Hilton again found space to put in a troublesome cross from the left and the frantic Arnold rearguard were unable to clear their lines effectively. A deft header from Beach found Mellors-Blair and the United man struck his shot past Kearney a split second before an Arnold defender was able to close him down.

Moments later Kelvin Mushambi eluded two defenders to create an opening for himself but this time Kearney was alert to the opportunity and was able to block the shot.

Arnold continued to push forward but mainly found them-selves thwarted by the combined efforts of Whiley, Marshall and Chris Murdock. When they were able to produce a worthwhile threat on goal they found Whalin in commanding, and somewhat entertaining, form. Despite winning further corners during the half, supplemented by more poor finishing, the home side were unable to convert their pressure into anything significant and the interval came with United still holding the advantage.

Michael Armstrong was unable to continue in the second half after sustaining an injury and Webster took over the right-back berth.

After the break Arnold began to produce their best football of the game and they clearly exerted some strong pressure on United but, as in the first period, United defended admirably, much to the frustration of the home support.

After sixty-nine minutes Mellors-Balir was replaced by Hooley and within sixty seconds United’s substitute had helped to make the game safe by getting on the end of a Murdock cross and head past the advancing Kearney, recording his first senior goal for the club in the process.

The goal appeared to rally the home side once more and a frenetic goalmouth melee was eventually cleared to safety by United’s over-worked defence and Whalin produced the save of the game following a close range header from Martin Carruthers with ten minutes remaining.

As the game drew to a conclusion Rickford almost got his name on the score-sheet, which would have only added to Arnold’s misery, but the victory was much deserved and the inability of the home side to convert their own chances was of little concern to the United contingent.

The 2-nil success was the first time that United have prevented the opposition from scoring this season and they can now look forward to further progress in the competition.

Long Eaton United: Whalin, Murdock, Whiley (c), Marshall, Armstrong (Webster 45), Hilton, Breach, Hunter, Mushambi, Mellors-Blair (Hooley 69), Rickford

United's Gary Breach, Chris Murdock and Jacob Webster all received yellow cards during the game.