HEARTBREAK defeat in the FA Vase on Saturday had a silver lining for Hanworth Villa – they won’t have to train on Tuesdays from now until the end of the season.

The backlog of games caused by the road to Wembley means Villa will be on league duty two, maybe even three times a week from now until the end of the Combined Premier campaign.

For all that, gutted manager Bobby Dawson reckoned the real villain of the piece in the 3-2 reverse to Walsall Wood was referee Tony Moores.

Dawson was incensed Villa had a stonewall penalty appeal turned down when Ross Cheetham was shoved in the back, while the Midlanders were gifted a dubious spot-kick seven minutes from time that proved the Walsall winner.

“Let’s just say the standard of the referee at this level of competition was not what it should be,” said the manager.

“One of theirs had a swing at one of ours and got away with it, and all the players around the Walsall second penalty insisted it was nothing more than a tangle of legs.

“The one good thing is that with having to play so many catch-up games, training on a Tuesday will get sacrificed – and I know which one the players prefer.”

The tie was twice postponed before Wood agreed it should be switched to The Ranch – and even toted a ‘home’ programme from the Midlands sporting a new sticker over the original date.

Levi King and Lee Higgs wiped out a 2-0 deficit in the hope of getting their names on a Wembley team-sheet with fine strikes, only to see Anthony Oaks gift the decisive spot-kick that now needs all hands on deck to move mid-table Villa back up the league.

However, Dawson reckons the ‘fantastic spirit' in the camp will nullify any potential Vase backlash.

He added: “That’s the thing that got us this far in the competition, and it was a hard call to name 11 from a strong squad of 18 for Saturday’s match.

“So if we do suffer from injuries and fatigue with so many games left, we have terrific reserves we can draw on.”

Villa went on to suffer their second cup exit in four days on Tuesday night when they were knocked out of the E1 Records Premier Challenge Cup 4-3 at Cobham, despite a Steve Loveridge hat-trick, while Levi King missed a late penalty. They return to league action tomorrow with a trip to Egham Town before visiting Cove next Tuesday.