Boss Michael so proud of Yate’s FA Cup heroes
YATE Town manager Paul Michael praised the tremendous commitment of his players which helped produce an FA Cup upset against National League side Dover on Tuesday night and a place in the first round for only the second time in the club’s history.
Substitute James Harding’s 75thminute strike earned Yate a 1-0 win and sent a crowd of 934 at Lodge Road - triple the usual attendance for Southern League matches - into raptures. Yate will now host more National League opponents in Yeovil Town on November 6, in what will, apparently, be the first FA Cup first round tie between two teams that begin with the letter Y.
Reflecting on a momentous evening at Lodge Road, Michael said: “I’m so delighted and so proud of the players. We haven’t got GPS but if we had GPS on the players tonight, they covered such long distances. They blocked balls, put their bodies on the line. We could have been a bit better, but in terms of effort we’ve had it all from them.”
Harding is likely to get a starting berth in Saturday’s FA Trophy against Willand Rovers following an injury to Olly Mehew.
Michael added: “Hards does what he does (when he comes on), he scores goals. His attitude has been unbelievable. When he comes on he does the job every time.
“The shame for him is Olly (Mehew) and Dave (Sims-Burgess) are both scoring as well. He’s had to be patient. Olly’s now picked up a knock ... so he’s going to have his opportunity Saturday.”
The Yate boss said it was “awesome” to be in the first round and heaped praise on the support his side received on Tuesday night.
“Unbelievable support,” he said. “They rallied the boys when they were fatigued. They kept us going at the end. They put pressure on them when they were in possession.
“They played a massive part and, hopefully, they’ll come back, if not for Willand on Saturday, then for Yeovil on the 6th.”