With games being called off all around Peterborough this was one of the few matches that survived the torrential rain of the past week. The Ringwood pitch was muddy but it was playable.

The match started quite evenly with both teams comfortable in possession. It was West Town who created the first chance when a long shot looked to be heading into the corner of the net before a great save from Anton Fountain sent the ball out for a corner.

Cardea then created two chances from set pieces, firstly Michael Williams free kick was flicked on by Aaron Yeoman but Kynan Bereznyckyj couldn't get on the end of it to divert it into the net. The second free kick was sent in by Yeoman and a sliding Tom Rimes couldn't get the contact needed to send the ball past the goalkeeper.

West Town stepped up their play in the last 25 minutes of the half and forced Cardea to produce their best defensive spell of the season. A good West Town move from the left ended up with a shot hitting the post and Rimes having to clear the danger.

Fountain had to be at his best again when he produced a fantastic save to tip over an effort from the edge of the box. From the following corner a Town header was headed off the line and onto the bar by Tom Broughton.

At half time joint manager Craig Robinson decided to change the intent of the team from a defensive unit to an attacking mind set with Tom Rimes joining Brendon Chapman up front and Mike Dandrilli coming on for Tom Broughton.

The changes nearly produced the desired outcome in the first minute of the second half, a through ball by Rimes was sent down the right for Dandrilli to run onto and the winger controlled the ball but then a wild miss kick meant the keeper could come out and claim the loose ball.

Cardea were having the better of the game in the second half and nearly took the lead thanks to their full back. Chapman's cross into the box was flicked on by Rimes and running in at the back post was Ryan Moore who left foot volleyed the ball first time and it went inches wide of the far post.

As the half hour mark approached West Town took the lead. A free kick was sent into the box and cleared but there appeared to be a scuffle in the box which disrupted some players and Cardea were unable to recover as a cross came in and Ash Baldwin had a free header to give West Town the lead.

It was almost two moments later when the Town striker broke the offside trap and was clean through with Fountain, but the Cardea keeper pulled off a great double save to keep the Tigers in the game.

Cardea were now in full attack mode and with 20 minutes to go a throw in from Dale Moore caused chaos in the West Town area and Rimes's shot was somehow saved by the legs of the keeper and went just wide of the post.

With Cardea committing so many men forward a West Town second was always on the cards and Town ensured their progression in the cup with a second goal from Klod King who went past a couple of defenders and slotted the ball home from 8 yards out.

The final whistle was blown and despite a 10 team difference in the league ladder the game had been a closely fought contest and Cardea could have made a case for winning the game had they had more luck in front of goal.

After the game Craig Robinson said: "We defended well for the first 45 minutes and Anton had to make a few saves to keep it goalless. We didn't put enough pressure on them higher up the park which allowed them too much space. We gave the ball away too easily which invited the pressure back on us.

"We changed it at half time to give us an outlet up top in Tom Rimes and we started to get a foothold in the game. The first goal was a sucker punch, if we had kept it level a bit longer we wouldn't have had to go ultra attacking which cost us the second goal.

"But we gave a good account of ourselves and the opposition came off the pitch knowing they had been in a battle. Ryan was different class first half winning every tackle and header and his pace saved us a few times.

"For me the overall man of the match was Harper as he led the line well, listened to us when we wanted him to push up, won a lot of headers and his 8 foot legs were at full stretch to deny some through balls."

Cardea now focus on the league and despite having not played a league game since November find themselves just one point of the top of the table with several games in hand. Next up is a game versus Black Bull next Sunday at Bushfield.