Ipswich Wanderers host Cockfosters in the FA Vase First Round Proper tomorrow, looking to continue their fantastic season of cup exploits.

So far this season, Glenn Read’s men have enjoyed mini-runs in the Vase, the FA Cup, and the League Cup, with tomorrow’s home encounter in the Vase another great chance for the Thurlow Nunn Premier Division new-boys to show what they can do on a nationwide scale.

Currently sitting in 11th position in the table since their promotion last season, chairman Terry Fenwick has been left delighted at the way the season is unfolding.

“I am very happy with how we are getting on,” declared the chairman.

“Credit must go to Glenn and the team, he has built a very good squad, who are also a great bunch of lads, and we’re scoring some great goals.

“Glenn is a very accomplished manager who likes his side to play football and we’re doing that.

“We’re going to have some sticky matches and lose some matches, we know that, but I think we’re doing really well.

“The gates are going up, the new boys have settled in well, and there’s plenty of banter around the place, it’s really good.”

Wanderers have more than held their own in their new surroundings of Thurlow Premier football, winning five of their 12 league fixtures so far, but it is the various cup competitions where they’ve really made their mark this season.

After progressing past two Preliminary Rounds in the FA Cup, Wanderers pushed Ryman Premier Division giants Wingate & Finchley, a side two levels above them in the non-league pyramid, all the way in a thrilling 4-3 replay defeat in the First Qualifying Round of the FA Cup in September.

3-0 down at half-time, Read’s men seemed dead and buried, but a sterling second-half performance almost saw them rock a startled Wingate, who just held on.

Indeed, prior to tomorrow’s encounter, Wanderers have already beaten a very good Hadley side in the Vase. prompting Hadley boss and former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur stalwart Micky Hazard to praise Read’s men.

Similar praise was drawn from the Lowestoft Town management recently, as again Wanderers pushed a higher-division side all the way - narrowly losing 2-1 to the Trawlerboys in the Suffolk Premier Cup.

Such exploits excite but also act as a reality check for Fenwick, whose side also progressed in the League Cup recently, as he explains: “Cup runs are important for the club, they’re great to be apart of.

“Everyone loves cup runs and the momentum they bring, but we can’t let them affect our league position as that’s the most important thing. The most important thing will be to keep in and around that top half.”

Fenwick also appreciates that Spartan South Midlands League Cockfosters will provide a stiff competition for his side tomorrow.

“Saturday will be a difficult one,” he said.

“We’ve had them watched and they’re a physical side, but we’re ready to go again.

“I’m glad we’re at home and hopefully it’ll be a battle we can overcome as we don’t fancy a replay down in London on Tuesday night!”