MY MENTOR ANDY’S JUST ACE - FRASER
County chief out the loo to see winner
NEWPORT ...... 2 LEICESTER ...... 1
NEWPORT chairman Gavin Foxall was feeling p ***** off when he thought he had missed the club’s moment of history.
The League Two side’s top guy was in the loo when Jamille Matt stunned Leicester with a 10th-minute goal. And for so long it looked like the big striker’s powerful header was going to decide this thrilling humbling of their Premier League opponents.
But the chairman shouldn’t have worried – there was plenty more where that came from with a last-gasp finish that saw Newport clamber over the line.
They had taken a bit of a battering in the second half but looked like holding out until Leicester grabbed a late equaliser when Rachid Ghezzal thumped home a ferocious 20-yarder.
It would have been enough to finish off most sides but not Michael Flynn’s Welsh battlers.
Leicester’s Marc Albrighton stuck his arm out to handle the ball in the 85th minute and ref Chris Kavanagh pointed to the spot.
Padraig Amond stepped up as if he hadn’t a care in the world to send keeper Danny Ward the wrong way and Leicester skittling out of the FA Cup.
The packed Rodney Parade crowd went wild and Amond now fancies a crack at Manchester United in the next round.
But the Irishman admits he will have to wait for his hangover to clear before tuning in for tonight’s fourth-round draw.
Amond said: “I could have a hangover tonight. I’ve had that many messages on my phone that I’ll probably have to go in a darkened room tomorrow to look through them all!
“If you dream the impossible it can happen – and it has. Last year we played Tottenham and ran them close but at the end of it all we just got lots of pats on the back and that feeling that it’s probably your one big opportunity.
“I can’t wait for the draw. We can just enjoy it now but if I had my choice it would be United.”
Fellow goal hero Matt said: “Everyone is buzzing. When my header went in I couldn’t feel my legs for about five minutes.”
Boss Michael Flynn added: “It hasn’t sunk in. We’ve been celebrating with water because we can’t afford champagne!
“I will never forget this. When it went to 1-1 you do worry but I just said ‘Let’s go for it.”
Gutted Leicester gaffer Claude Puel said: “We made changes but we can’t use that as an excuse. Credit to Newport.”