Goalkeeper Eddie Cavanagh was Vale of White Horse’s hero with two spot-kick saves in a 4-2 penalty shoot-out win over Swansea in the ESFA Under 15 Trophy quarter-final at St Helens.

With the tie finishing 1-1 after extra time, Jared Jones, Sam Barder, Ross Tanner and Robbie Cundy fired home Vale’s first four penalties, while Cavanagh saved Swansea’s third and fourth spot-kicks.

It was the second successive tie Vale had showed nerves of steel to triumph on penalties following a 3-2 spot-kick win over Cambridge & District.

And now they can look forward to playing in the semi-finals of the competition for the first time in their history with a trip to face Bromley at Beckenham Town on Wednesday, March 7.

Vale had opened the scoring after 17 minutes when Tanner’s corner was headed on at the near post by Anthony Martin before going into the net off a defender.

With Mason Curtis working tirelessly in midfield, Vale had the better of the second half, but Swansea equalised with 15 minutes left when Kyle Copp bent the ball into the top corner from 20 yards.

The other semi-final will see Newcastle upon Tyne or York & District host Warrington.

VALE of White Horse Under 13s slipped to a 2-0 defeat against Gosport & Fareham in the Oxford United Cup semi-final at Milton United.

Connor Summers’s 30-yard screamer gave Gosport a first-half lead, and Harvey Bradbury saled Vale’s fate after the break.

VALE of White Horse Under 11s went down 2-1 to in-form Sutton in the County League at Oxford Brookes Westminster Institute of Education.

Sutton’s Jack Rudoni dispatched a cross-shot in the first minute, and Vale fell further behind when Luke Spillane-Davis’s shot hit a divot and flew over keeper Matthew Crowther.

James Ormrod pulled a goal back in the second half.