HACKED OFF! BUT GARY’S SO PROUD
AN emotional Gary Hackett was left wondering what might have been as Stourbridge suffered late FA Cup heartbreak at League One Wycombe Wanderers.
‘The Beast’ Adebayo Akinfenwa powerfully headed home the winner seven minutes from time after Glassboys defender Dan Scarr had earlier equalised Sam Wood’s first-half opener.
Akinfenwa’s strike compounded the misery of the Northern Premier Division side, who came within inches of taking an unlikely lead when Tom Tonks’ cross-shot bounced off the underside of the bar to safety.
“It’s just one of those things,” said boss Hackett, who has been in charge of the Glassboys for 14 years. “When you’ve been at a club for so long and you see that amazing support – I had family here as well. It was a bit emotional, nothing wrong with that I don’t think.
“We’re extremely disappointed but disappointed for the right reasons – I’m so proud of the performance, the atmosphere, the day and the fans.
“It’s just a real disappointment because I definitely think we deserved, at worst, a replay and it didn’t quite happen for us.
“There’s very fine margins between success and failure and at 1-1 we’ve hit the underside of the bar and a couple of minutes later Akinfenwa – probably for the first time in the game – has pulled off and MATCH STATS WYCOMBE v STOURBRIDGE 6 SHOTS ON TARGET 5 9 SHOTS OFF TARGET 7 7 CORNERS 8 4 OFFSIDE 1 20 FOULS CONCEDED 7 2 YELLOW CARDS 0 0 RED CARDS 0 scored a goal and that’s football.” Stourbridge, who lie 74 places below the Chairboys in the league Pyramid and who had knocked out League One Northampton to reach the third round for the first time, more than held their own for long spells against Gareth Ainsworth’s men. Wood hooked in Wycombe’s first with a scrappy effort from close range, before the travelling fans were sent into raptures when centre back Scarr found the net from a free-kick with 20 minutes remaining. Tonks went mighty close to putting the Glassboys in front after hitting the woodwork moments later before former AFC Wimbledon striker Akinfenwa punished him in typical fashion to send the Chairboys into round four for the first time since 2001, when they went on to reach the semi-finals. Sporting Ainsworth praised the efforts of Hackett and his players afterwards adding: “You could see the culture he [Hackett] has got; the lads will work and run really hard for him. “They’ve got a couple of decent players as well, who I think could play higher.”
STAR MAN: Jamal Blackman (Wycombe)
ATT: 6,312
ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★
REFEREE: Darren England 8/10