AFC Aldermaston reached the second round of the Bluefin Sports Challenge Cup after beating Henley Town 3-2 at the Investec Triangle on Saturday – the third time the sides had played each other in the space of two weeks.

Town had won the opening skirmish on penalties before Aldermaston claimed victory in Division One East of the Hellenic League, and it was the Atom Men who again took the honours in the most recent showdown.

The visitors opened the stronger and pressed on Henley, which paid dividends instantly as some smart inter-play found the ball make its way to Chace Jewell.

He travelled and fired home from 20 yards to give the Atom Men the lead.

The match began to settle down with the hosts getting back into it, particularly causing problems on the right-hand side.

However, Aldermaston doubled their advantage on 35 minutes when a ball was knocked down by Callum Eaton, leading to a link up between Ryan Alexander and Jamie Gannon which resulted in a flick round the corner finding Karl Hanks who obliged with a driven finish across the goalkeeper.

Henley Town hit back strongly in the second half, though, and Ryan Szram cut the deficit on the hour mark before Josh Gillespie levelled matters on 71 minutes.

Yet Aldermaston rallied and managed to get their noses back in front after being awarded a penalty for hand-ball, Joe Cummuskey holding his nerve to put his side back in front.

And the visitors did enough to hold off the Red Kites in the last 10 minutes, setting up a second-round showdown with Virginia Water.

The Atom Men also progressed in the Berks & Bucks Senior Trophy with an impressive 2-0 victory at Wallingford Town on Tuesday night.

The away side started strongly and could have taken the lead, only for Jewell to spurn an opportunity.

However, they took control of the tie when Liam Tackley’s assist allowed Kai Parton-Edey to fire home, and the prolific striker doubled his and his side’s tally to send the Atom Men into the break 2-0 up.

Wallingford showed some fight in the second half, but a resolute Aldermaston held them at bay and set up a trip to Reading YMCA in the second round.

AFC Aldermaston return to league action with a trip to Holyport this Saturday (3pm).