Devonshire would love United to go far in cup
Maidenhead United FC: It would be ‘happy days’ if side can emulate Boreham Wood
Alan Devonshire has looked at Boreham Wood as inspiration for a good FA Cup run this season, and asked the question, 'if they can go deep in the tournament, why can’t Maidenhead United?'
In their 2021-22 FA Cup campaign, the Wood reached the fifth round for the first time after beating then-League One club AFC Wimbledon in the third round and then-Championship club AFC Bournemouth in the fourth.
Premier League outfit Everton ensured Luke Garrard’s men would go no further than the fifth round, as they won 2-0 at Goodison Park thanks to a brace from Salomon Rondon.
Maidenhead United haven't been past the first round for 136 years, so their first objective will be overcoming Dagenham & Redbridge – who they drew out of the hat on Monday – before they can begin to dream about facing opposition from the top tier of English football.
“We’ve never been further than the first round,” said Devonshire before adding, “So that’s our aim, that’s our focus.
“We want to get into the second round if we can and, of course, further.
“Look what Boreham Wood done last year. If we can replicate that, then happy days.
“They showed last year that you can go far in the tournament. You just need a bit of luck. The FA Cup means everything to the fans doesn’t it? They’d love to get a good cup run.”
Devonshire added: “The first round game is against a team we know well and they know us well.
“The draw could have been better but it could have been a lot worse.
“Getting into the first round makes it six times out of eight we’ve done it, since I’ve been back, which ain’t bad.
“We’ll see if we can go one step further.”
Maidenhead United are back in league action this weekend and travel to Barnet, a side that sit one place below Devonshire’s men in 14th.
So far this season, the Bees have picked up five wins, two draws, and six losses.
“It’s an unpredictable game,” said Devonshire. “They score a lot of goals but they let in a lot of goals as well. We’re looking forward to it though.
“We’re in decent form and we should have a few boys back.
“I think in the next three or four weeks we’ve got a game Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday for four weeks so I will need everyone available,
“A lot of them are starting to come back now which is good for us,”