Forest Green Rovers progressed to the second round of the FA Cup with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Billericay Town at The New Lawn.

Matty Stevens nodded Rovers into the lead after 38 minutes, before quick-fire goals from Joseph Mills and Jack Aitchison saw the hosts three up at the break.

Liam Shephard rounded off proceedings after 65 minutes as his deflected shot found the corner.

Mark Cooper made just one change to the side that beat Cheltenham Town 2-1 last weekend, Aaron Collins returning to the starting XI in place of Elliott Frear.

After heavy rain throughout the morning, a late pitch inspection by referee Graham Salisbury saw him deem the surface playable.

Forest Green Rovers started the brighter of the two sides, applying early pressure to their National League South guests, Collins having the best chance of the opening quarter of an hour as he fired narrowly wide with his left foot after driving at the area.

Fresh from penning a deal to keep him at The New Lawn until the end of 2020/21, full-back Dom Bernard had one of the better chances of the opening knockings, as he saw a powerful effort from the right well blocked.

Rovers' best chance of the first half hour fell the way of the Joseph Mills, Rovers’ leading scorer firing just wide after Collins’ cut-back ran all the way through to him at the back post.

A good move through the midfield could have allowed Shephard to chalk up his second goal of the campaign, but after Aitchison worked a clever ball through to the full-back, his effort took a deflection and popped up just over the bar.

From the resulting set-piece, a short corner saw Collins curl a delight lofted ball to the back post, where Stevens rose highest to nod past Alan Julian from three yards out.

It proved to be a lucrative final five minutes to the first period for Rovers, as two late goals put them in a comfortable position at the break.

Captain Mills was on hand for the first, as his powerful drive from a crossing position skittered along the wet surface to nestle at the near post, before Aitchison netted deep into stoppage time as the ball fell kindly for him on the edge of the area after a partial clearance.

The hosts didn’t let up the pressure as they strode out for the second half, Aitchison going close with a powerful effort from a Collins cut-back, which he saw well blocked.

With 65 minutes on the clock, Rovers were able to make it four as Shephard did eventually get his second goal of the season, with a touch of fortune.

Moments after stepping off the bench, Frear won the ball on the left before seeking out Shephard on the edge of the area with a square pass. The full-back tried his luck, and a heavy deflection wrong-footed Julian who could only watch as the ball bounced into the bottom right-hand corner.

Billericay’s front-man Jake Robinson caused a few issues for Rovers with 68 minutes on the clock, nicking the ball off the finger-tips of Joe Wollacott in the area. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t beat the Rovers backline a second time, Liam Kitching coming across to run the ball clear.

Robinson looked to have his name on the scoresheet with 15 minutes to play as he was first to react to a Wollacott’s parry, but the linesman’s flag pulled him back for offside and cut short the celebrations.

Rovers had to play out the final minutes with 10 men after third substitute Frear had to be carried from the field on a stretcher after a heavy challenge.

Forest Green XI: Wollacott, Shephard, Bernard, Rawson, Winchester (Taylor 67’), Stevens, Collins, Adams, Kitching (McGinley 76’), J.Mills (c), Aitchison (Frear 64’)

Unused subs: Thomas, Morton, Godwin-Malife, Mondal

Billericay XI: Julian, Ramsey, Nunn, Henry (c), Deering (Reynolds 76’), Loft, Robinson, Paxman (Emmanuel 46’), Alfa (Phillips 58’), Kefelas, Potter

Unused subs: O’Hara, Agboola, Laurent, Krasniqi

Attendance: 1,419 (302 away)

Referee: Graham Salisbury

Man of the Match: Aaron Collins

Attendance: 1,419 (302 away)

Sponsors: Wheatley Printers