George’s golden goal gives Robins another financial lift
THIS was a significant day for Cheltenham Town, for both footballing and non-footballing reasons.
George Lloyd’s extra-time goal took them into the third round of the FA Cup for the first time in eight years.
It was their first win over higher level opposition in the competition since they thrashed Swindon Town 5-0 in 2014.
It earned the club £25,500 in prize money, along with the £12,500 they receive for the match being streamed live by BBC Sport.
Added to the £24,000 from their three EFL Trophy group stage wins and another £16,972 for beating South Shields in the FA Cup opener, Cheltenham have accrued valuable funds when they needed it most after eight months without fans inside the stadium.
Runs to the potentially glamorous stages of the FA Cup have often coincided with successful league campaigns for Cheltenham, who were promoted in 2001/02 and 2005/06 after reaching the fifth and fourth rounds respectively.
They also took part in the League Two play-offs in 2011/12 and 2012/13 after enjoying third round ties against Tottenham and Everton.
Cheltenham edged out Crewe Alexandra with an impressive all-round performance and that was after Michael Duff made five changes to the team that drew with Cambridge United four days earlier.
One of the players to come in was West Brom loanee Finn Azaz, who opened the scoring in the second minute and was the best player on the pitch in the first half.
After nearly six weeks out with an ankle injury, he tired midway through the second half and was replaced by Tom Sang, who gave his brightest display in a Robins shirt so far.
Sang delivered the ball from the right that was touched down by Liam Sercombe, allowing Lloyd to head in the winner in the fourth minute of extratime.
Lloyd was - as always - brave and he collided with Olly Lancashire as the ball bounced into the net, with both players requiring treatment before battling on.
Cheltenham had been in front for more than an hour, but Chris Porter’s deflected shot beat Scott Flinders in the 64th minute to take the tie to extratime.
Flinders, another one of the five changes, distinguished himself with two outstanding pieces of goalkeeping in the second half.
He blocked from Daniel Powell in the 51st minute when the Crewe man was through on goal before an even better stop four minutes later when Oliver Finney’s cross was deflected to Luke Murphy and he looked certain to score, but the flying Flinders turned it over.
The 34-year-old continued his excellent form since returning from a broken leg and making Duff’s decision over his number one more complicated.
Of the others called into the side alongside match-winner Lloyd, Lewis Freestone recovered from one or two careless moments to put in another encouraging performance on the left of the back three.
Chris Clements also made an impact against his first club, with Crewe’s teachings still evident in the way the 30-year-old midfielder plays the game.
There was clearly mutual respect between the two managers on the touchline and both of them were in agreement that referee James Adcock did not have the best of games.
Crewe boss David Artell felt a red card at some point during the 120 minutes was highly likely because the officials had lost control, but the only real flashpoint came after the final whistle.
As the players left the pitch, Cheltenham claimed Crewe captain Perry Ng spat water in the direction of Robins coach Wade Elliott.
Whether it was intentional or not, the mere act is irresponsible at best in the current climate and Artell says he will be dealt with if the incident played out how the home side say it did.
All being well, this will be Cheltenham’s last home match played in an empty stadium, with a pilot event planned for the visit of Exeter City next Saturday.
It has been a long wait, but Robins fans will be returning to cheer on a team who look every bit capable of emulating the achievements of Steve Cotterill and John Ward and reaching League One.
Cheltenham Town (3-5-2): Flinders; Raglan, Tozer, Freestone (Boyle 84); Blair, Clements, Sercombe, Azaz (Sang 74), Hussey; Lloyd (Williams 105), May. Subs not used: Griffiths, Bowry, Reid, Chapman.
Crewe Alexandra (4-3-3): Jaaskelainen; Ng, Offord, Lancashire, Pickering; Wintle, Ainley (Finney 5, Lowery 100), Murphy (Zanzala 106); Powell (Dale 63), Porter, Kirk. Subs not used: Richards, R Griffiths, Johnson. Referee: James Adcock.
Star Man: Finn Azaz.