BERMUDIAN HEAT TO THE DARTFORD DOWNPOUR – IT’S BEEN A PLEASURE
RE-RUNS of classic matches on TV have at least filled a void in recent months but there’s nothing quite like the real thing.
But while we all wait for that to return, it’s been fun looking back at those memorable games. We all have them, each for differing reasons. Some might not necessarily have been the most entertaining but there’s always something that sticks in the mind.
My colleague John Lyons looked back at his Top Ten Non-League games last weekend. It got me thinking…
1. NORTH FERRIBY 3 WREXHAM 3 (AET, NORTH FERRIBY WON 5-4 ON PENALTIES) — MARCH 29, 2015
Remember when the FA Trophy had a March final experiment? Thankfully restored these days to its traditional end-of-season fixture, this served up a thriller!
Not many gave North Ferriby United much of a chance against the National League big boys of Wrexham. The tiny village had pretty much decamped to be at Wembley to see the Villagers in action on their big day out.
And it seemed the expected would play out when the Welsh side went two goals ahead through Louis Moult and Jay Harris.
What came next was some of the most gripping and breathless football you could wish for. With a little more than 15 minutes to go, Ferriby got a penalty that was rifled into the top corner by captain Liam King. Then with four minutes left on the clock, substitute Ryan Kendall steered in a leveller.
And so to extra-time. That man Kendall nodded in another Jason St Juste cross to put the Step 2 side on the brink of the unthinkable. Wrexham had to pull something out of the bag and on 118 minutes Moult did just that by slamming in to make it 3-3 and set-up a dramatic penalty shoot-out.
Even that had its drama with misses, an ‘is it over the line?’ spot-kick before going to sudden death where Ferriby hero Adam Nicklin saved the penalty that went down in history.
2. BURNLEY 0 LINCOLN CITY 1 FEBRUARY 18, 2017
Everything seemed to go into slow motion in the 89th-minute. Lincoln City looked to have done enough to take Premier League Burnley to a replay. It was just the latest success on a remarkable FA Cup run for the Cowley brothers, Danny and Nicky, as they breathed new life into the Imps in their first season.
Reaching the fifth round had already seen the scalps of Championship duo Ipswich Town and Brighton & Hove Albion. Surely this, however, would be the end of the road. A fullstrength Burnley side featuring Joey Barton, Michael Keane and James Tarkowski were frustrated by the National League side.
But when a perfect set-play unfolded from a last-minute corner, it’s almost as if silence fell on Turf Moor. Luke Waterfall headed back across goal, towering defender Sean Raggett rose high and headed towards goal. Even from the press box it looked over the line…it took a few seconds to confirm and Lincoln had reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. It was an incredible story.
Danny and Nicky were whisked off to the Match of the Day studio for that evening’s highlights before the Imps took 9,000 fans to see the next game against Arsenal. Unforgettable.
3. BERMUDA 0 ENGLAND C 6 - JUNE 5, 2013
Make no mistake, this was a tougher gig for this reporter than you might think. Six days in the sun, beautiful crystal clear water and a soft sandy beach, reluctantly I took one for the team and agreed to go.
Lovely surroundings aside, what really sticks out is the fantastic England squad and the result they achieved. The majority of the players went onto play in the Football League, while Andre Gray and Sam Clucas reached the Premier League.
A great spirit was quickly forged as the team revelled in their task. There were enjoyable school visits and even a reception at the governor’s house. But when they got on the pitch they were scintillating. Antoni Sarcevic and
Marlon Jackson had them two-goals to the good at the break, before James Norwood’s second-half hat-trick and Gray’s close-range finish.
A top performance. It was just a shame about that one cloud in the sky on day two.
4. GUISELEY 4 GRESLEY ROVERS 4 (AET) - MAY 4, 1991
The memory is slightly hazy on this one as I was six years old! But how about this for a first ever game at Wembley? I can recall getting there fairly late – not for the last time when going to watch games with my dad – and running up the Wembley steps as the national anthem was being played.
Clear as day, I remember seeing that famous pitch for the first time. How big it looked. How green the grass was. It took my breath away.
I also remember it being a thrilling 4-4 draw after extra-time – in those days the replay was played later, in this case at Sheffield United’s Bramall Lane.
Guiseley raced into a three-goal lead inside 30 minutes before Gresley Rovers somehow clawed their way back with a late equaliser to force extra-time.
Rovers took the lead in the first four minutes before Guiseley had a last-minute equaliser of their own.
They won the replay 3-1 and I went away from Wembley thinking every game would be just as entertaining.
5. EBBSFLEET UNITED 2 MAIDSTONE UNITED 2 (AET, MAIDSTONE WON 4-3 ON PENALTIES) - MAY 14, 2016
Drama and tension do not do it justice. Not only was a place in the National League at stake but it was a Kent derby that bristled from the kick-off.
Danny Kedwell hammered Ebbsfleet into an early lead from the penalty spot. It was cancelled out by Bobby-Joe Taylor’s wonderful solo strike early in the second half.
In extra-time, Kedwell, again from the spot, smashed past Lee Worgan to put Daryl McMahon’s Fleet back in front. The tension was palpable as the clock ticked down. Stones boss Jay Saunders had already put down his clipboard in preparation of the final whistle handshake. But Ebbsfleet fell deeper and when they couldn’t clear their lines in extra-time stoppage time, there was an inevitability of what was to follow. The ball fell to Dumebi Dumaka and he fired through a forest of legs to make it 2-2.
Then when Kedwell stepped up to take his crucial shoot-out spot-kick, it was third time’s a charm for Worgan who beat the shot away to send the Stones into the National League.
6. DARLINGTON 2 FARNBOROUGH TOWN 3 - JANUARY 4, 2003
This one was as a fan. When Farnborough beat Southport to reach the FA Cup third round, a long trip to Darlington wasn’t what they had in mind – especially a Football League side who had just given Stevenage a good hiding.
The pre-7am start was all the more sketchy considering the game was in doubt because of the snow.
Thankfully – with the whole pitch apart from the swept penalty areas under a blanket of white – the game went ahead. Farnborough did too, through Rocky Baptiste only to be pegged back by Ashley Nicholls.
Danny Carroll then put the Hampshire side into the lead again, before Ian Clark levelled on 36 minutes. Carroll grabbed his second on the hour which set off 30 plus minutes of agony that is no doubt primary reason for my premature grey hair!
7. AFC WIMBLEDON 0 LUTON TOWN 0 (AET AFC WIMBLEDON WON 4-3 ON PENALTIES) - MAY, 21 2011
Ably guided to Eastlands, Manchester, by our chauffeur for the day, former editor Stuart Hammonds, The NLP three – myself and past colleague Sam Elliott -–will never forget this one.
No goals maybe – and I still can’t believe Jason Walker’s header came back off the post and into the arms of Wimbledon keeper Seb Brown – this was most memorable for the history it created.
Just nine years after forming, AFC Wimbledon reached the Football League. The fans that had their club stolen away from them and had set-up on their own, had a reached the Promised Land.
It’s still one of the most remarkable stories in modern day football. Memorable for Walker’s chipped penalty with Dons fan Brown saving twice in the shoot-out, Danny Kedwell leathered the winning spot-kick to start the party in the Wimbledon end. Luton would eventually have their time despite another play-off final defeat to York City the following year.
The NLP’s
8. BOREHAM WOOD 1 TRANMERE ROVERS 2 - MAY 12, 2018
Truth be told, I was still getting settled at my press box desk when this game kicked-off. Nothing really happens early on in these promotion finals, does it? They are cagey affairs and…Liam Ridehalgh has just flown into a challenge on Ricky Shakes. “He’s gone here,” exclaimed very own David Richardson. He was right. Out came the red card. Forty-eight seconds gone.
Boreham Wood, the unlikely finalists, would maybe never have a better chance. If Tranmere Rovers were to end their Non-League stay, they were going to have to do it with ten men.
We’ll never know how this final would have played out with 11 v 11. Wood couldn’t get star Bruno Andrade into the game how they usually would