Herne Bay will face West Auckland Town over two legs for a place in the FA Vase final at Wembley.

Monday morning’s semi-final draw paired Simon Halsey’s side with the men from the north east who will visit Winch’s Field for the tie’s first leg on Saturday, March 24.

Reacting to the draw, Bay manager Halsey (pictured) admitted he was still buzzing from Saturday’s 2-1 quarter-final win at Shortwood United.

He said: "I thought I’d seen everything in football, but to be honest the manner of the performance and the win, playing with 10 men for most of the game, was phenomenal.

"West Auckland is just another game of football and it was going to be tough whoever we got drawn against. A lot of people would have preferred to have got the away leg out of the way first, but it’s a long trip down for them just like it’s a long trip up there for us.

"If we’re going to win the competition, we’ve got to beat the best teams, so it makes no difference us playing them now then it does in the final. Basically, we’ve got to play two games of football to get to Wembley and I’m more than confident our boys can get through the challenge."

West Auckland progressed to the semi-finals thanks to a late 2-0 win at Bournemouth Poppies on Saturday. The return leg in County Durham takes place a week later on Saturday, March 31.