BLACKFIELD & LANGLEY’S hopes of emulating Sholing’s 2013/14 Wembley wonders have been blown out of the water.

And they are not the only ones to be licking their wounds after a gloomy weekend for the Sydenhams League in the FA Vase.

Newport IoW, Alresford Town, AFC Portchester and Verwood Town also bowed out on Saturday, leaving the Wessex League devoid of any interest in today’s last-32 draw.

Blackfield were heartbreakingly beaten by an 85th-minute winner from Highworth Town at Gang Warily.

But, hand on heart, experienced manager John Robson had little sympathy for his down-in-the-mouth players – with the exception of goalkeeper Scott O’Rourke.

The Watersiders could easily have fallen behind three minutes after the break when Franklyn Clarke floored Callum Parsons in the area and the referee pointed to the spot.

But O’Rourke, a passionate and vocal figure between the sticks for Blackfield, is no stranger to saving penalties having proved unbeatable for Brockenhurst in their record-breaking 15-14 shoot-out win over Andover Town in the Hampshire FA Senior Cup last term. And the ex-Sholing stopper’s agility came to the fore again on Saturday as he sprang to his far left to stop TJ Bohane’s spot kick squeezing into the bottom corner.

Bohane, though, was not to be denied as, with just five minutes of normal time remaining, he was teed up by Ryan King on the left of the area.

This time Highworth’s skipper and top scorer gave O’Rourke no chance as he lashed the ball high into the net from an acute angle.

When the teams last met at Gang Warily in the FA Cup in August, Blackfield had run out handsome 4-0 winners over the Hellenic Premier visitors.

But, barring a terrific save from Ekow Elliott’s stoppage-time free-kick, Highworth goalkeeper Gary Stevens had an easy afternoon of it this time round as Blackfield – looking to reach the fourth round for the third season running – let them off the hook with a tepid display.

Asked if he could explain the huge gulf between Cup and Vase results, Robson summed it up in one word – “Us!”

“When we beat Highworth 4-0 in the FA Cup, we really did play them off the park from start to finish, but today we didn’t play anyone off the park,” he lamented.

“We were edgy, we were looking for passes when they weren’t really on and we didn’t close them down well enough.

“We were shooting from areas we shouldn’t have shot from. We should have made Highworth defend tooth and nail, but we didn’t.

“This is an excellent competition to get up the line towards Wembley, but we haven’t done it.

“I feel sorry for Scotty (O’Rourke) who made a good penalty save and there was nothing he could do about the goal.

“But even if we had gone to extra time, I still think Highworth would have won because they had the legs and better use of the ball to beat us on the day.

“We’ve slowly got worse recently rather than better and we need to get the edge back that we had at the start of the season.”

Blackfield handed a debut to experienced former Poole Town frontman Dan Cann, signed from Southern League outfit Hungerford.

But, on the debit side, winger Danilo Cadete has left Gang Warily and signed for Sydenhams Premier title rivals Winchester City.

Winchester – 2-1 league winners over Hamworthy United on Saturday – have also announced the arrival of tenacious ex-Poole and Wimborne midfielder Micky Hubbard from Dorchester Town.