MARINE ARE THE REAL WINNERS
Of course it’s Spurs in hat for fourth round, but selling thousands of programmes and virtual tickets ensures non-league club’s survival
THERE is a notice in the gents beneath the main stand at Rossett Park that sums up life in the Northern Premier League, Division One (North West).
It concerns the need to keep spare toilet rolls off the sodden floor. ‘Any problems,’ it reads, ‘please let a club official know. They’re the ones looking glum and wearing a club tie.’
Maybe they were after this, too. A flood of goals, including four in the f i rst 37 minutes, swiftly dampened f antasies of t he greatest upset in FA Cup history.
Yet, in all truth, who expected that? This was the competition’s biggest mismatch — 161 places separating the sides — and the idea Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham might lose was fanciful.
Even the BBC cameras were not here to record a contest, but an occasion, a match t hat encapsulated the spirit of the FA Cup.
When Marine had the first good chance of the game, it felt like a victory; when they reached the 24th minute with the scores still l evel, i t was a cause for celebration.
When four goals went in over the next 13 minutes, including a hat-trick for Carlos Vinicius, it was like watching Usain Bolt winning the dad’s race at the school sports day.
Tottenham knew it was a kick into nothing coming here. So Marine ‘won’. Not in any way that placed them in the draw for the fourth round. But because the club are on the map now, and because the revenue from this game ensures their long-term future following the financial ravages of the last year.
When Tier Four and the third lockdown struck, it ended any hope of gate money. So Marine gave out virtual tickets — and 30,000 were sold at £10 each.
The club even found a one- off investor to cover the numbers that adorn the perimeter f encing, corresponding to the houses in the adjoining streets. Marine have to retrieve the balls f rom their neighbours’ back gardens and this helps with location.
But this was the day Mourinho came to town, to Crosby, and he took his place, not in an expansive technical area, but on plastic seats in a space so tight his feet almost encroached on to the pitch.
He took it seriously, though, gave Marine the respect due. No Harry Kane, and Son Heung-min on the bench just in case, but he started Dele Alli, Lucas Moura and Toby Alderweireld and brought on Gareth Bale in the second half.
The g a me? Well , pl a i nl y, Tottenham were on top. But not before Marine’s Neil Kengni had come within inches of a place in FA Cup history. His shot from 30 yards caught Joe Hart off guard and struck the crossbar, before the keeper recovered and flicked it over.
The goals came at a rush, mostly, towards the end of the first half. Vinicius got the ball stuck under his feet for the first, initially, but recovered to smash Alli’s cross into the net from close range. He even had the gall to pose, arms folded, in celebration.
His second came from another Alli cross which Matt Doherty almost put in at the far post. Bayleigh Passant saved, but Vinicius turned it in. No posturing this time.
Moura scored directly from a free- kick for the third, before Vinicius completed his hat-trick with an exquisite chip.
Even so, the goal of the night belonged to 16- year- old Alfie Devine, who cut inside, struck a low shot and became the youngest player to score for a club in the top four tiers since 2011.
Marine boss Neil Young said: ‘Jose said well done. He was very complimentary about the pitch. He gets English football, doesn’t he? Look at the teams he puts out. It would have been very easy for him not to put Gareth Bale on but he respected what we have achieved in this competition.
‘ I have so much respect for Jose Mourinho and Tottenham Hotspur. It’s beyond our wildest dreams to bring them here. We just wish we could have done a little bit more.’
Mourinho added: ‘I think it was clear Marine were going to be ready for everything. If they had gone 1-0 ahead, there would have been even more emotion in the game.’
MARINE (5-4-1): Passant 6; Solomon-Davies 7, Raven 7 (Shaw 81), Miley 6, Hughes 6 (Howard 46), Joyce 7; Kengni 7, Devine 6 (Strickland 75), Barrigan 7, Hmami 6 (Doyle 67); Cummins 6 (Wignall 75). Subs not used: Mendes, Ellison, Lynch. Booked: Joyce.
TOTTENHAM (4-2-3-1): Hart 6; Doherty 7, Rodon 7, Alderweireld 6 (Tanganga 46), Davies 7 (Reguilon 71); Sissoko 7 (Devine 46), White 7; Fernandes 6, Alli 8 (Bale 65), Moura 7 (Clarke 65); Vinicius 8. Subs not used: Gazzaniga, Sanchez, Ndombele, Son. Booked: None. Man of the match: Carlos Vinicius. Referee: Michael Oliver.