London Colney were knocked out of the Herts FA Senior Cup at the hands of Stevenage on Tuesday night.

It was a dream tie for the Blueboys who got to play at the Lamex Stadium, but it was always going to be a test too far against the League One outfit who fielded a number of first team players.

It was not the futile exercise for Stevenage that many expected though, although it did look ominous after Bruno Andrade turned in Omare Tounkara’s cross in to the third minute.

Ryan Thompson’s charges did not wilt though and created chances of their own; Matt Newman and Martin Collins coming closest, albeit without really testing Steve Arnold in the Boro goal.

Although the hosts’ custodian had to be in top form to deny Newman after Collins found him in the box. Colney’s top scorer turned and tried to poke the ball into the corner but Arnold got a strong hand to it and push the ball wide.

Boro were then unlucky not to double their advantage as Dean Parrett embarked on a solo run through the defence and worked his way into a one-on-one with Charlie May but he put his shot the wrong side of the post.

With every foray in Colney’s half, Boro looked dangerous but it took a five minute lapse in concentration from the visiting defence for them to inflate the score.

Jordan Burrow won a soft free-kick near the corner post, which Parrett whipped in for an unmarked Ryan Johnson to head past May.

As Colney were reeling from the second, Boro added a third. Tounkara muscled his way through the defence before pulling the ball back for Roarie Deacon who made no mistake from four yards to give his side a 3-0 lead at the break.

Boro came out after the interval determined to add more goals. Whereas they were happy to sit back, move the ball around the defence and hit Colney on the break in the first half, Boro took the game to their lower league opponents in the second.

Burrow had the first chance, cutting in from the left but he curled his shot wide of the far post before Tounkara, whose pace caused all sorts of problems all night, was dispossessed by Tom Smith, who was arguably the Blueboys’ best player on the night.

Andrade almost scored his second and Boro’s fourth but his 25-yard shot skimmed the outside of the post. Kennedy was next to try his luck and against another keeper he may have scored but May tipped his shot onto the bar before collecting it.

Soon after, Tounkara was back to his menacing best, turning his defender of the halfway line before bearing down on goal. However, he took the ball a little too wide and Smith put in a great challenge to steal the ball and clear.

Fatigue in the latter stages was always going to be Colney’s greatest challenge and so it proved. In the last 20 minutes Boro swept the ball around at will and attacked with a potency that Colney couldn’t resist.

Substitute Rohdell Gordon ran at pace down the right and worked his way into the box before pulling the ball back to Burrow, who was felled as he tried to find a yard of space in a compacted area.

The referee pointed to the spot and Burrow dispatched the penalty.

Boro resumed their dominance after the restart and saw the game out easily.

For Colney, and their travelling support, there is a lot to be proud of: their back four was resolute and in Newman, Collins, Shaw, Gallagher and Clarke-Mardel and Fitzgerald they have an attacking line that links well and will continue to cause problems in the SSML Premier Division.

If they can take the football they showed against Stevenage into the league then the only way is up for Thompson’s team.