Our special day
COUNTY chief Jim Gannon heralded “a special day” as his heroic Hatters eased past League Two Yeovil Town 3-1 in the FA Cup First Round at Huish Park on Saturday.
After a near-500 mile round trip to Somerset, the unfancied National League North visitors fought back from 1-0 down to advance into the 2nd Round proper for the first time in nine years, thanks to goals from Matty Warburton, Nyal Bell and Frank Mulhern.
The win, which set up yet another daunting trip in the second round – this time to the winners of a replay between Barnet and Bristol Rovers – was greeted by scenes of wild celebration from both players and supporters alike at the final whistle.
Almost 600 travelling Hatters fans cheered on their heroic side in the corner of a wet and windy Huish Park, with the victorious County squad leading the away end in a ‘thunder-clap’, reminiscent of Iceland’s celebrations following their famous 2-1 win over England at Euro 2016.
“I’ve experienced many special days as a player and manager at County as many of our fans have, but you have to remember this is so special for the younger fans and for our players. The biggest compliment I can give the lads is that we deserve it,” Gannon enthused.
Despite falling behind less than ten minutes into proceedings thanks to the Glovers’ leading scorer Alex Fisher’s early header, County bounced back to take the lead at the interval with two goals in a remarkable four minutes.
Firstly, County’s own leading goalscorer Matty Warburton – who had made national headlines earlier in the week with much of the pre-match build-up focussing on the former Curzon Ashton man’s status as a parttime schoolteacher – curled a delicious freekick home just after the half-hour.
As County fans celebrated jubilantly against a backdrop of restless home supporters, who’ve seen Darren Way’s League Two strugglers win just once on home soil this campaign, young striker Nyal Bell capped a fine move by sliding home Elliot Osborne’s low cross just four minutes later.
And former Motherwell chief Gannon was quick to heap praise on his “tireless” side, who saw their impressive unbeaten run extend into double figures in all competitions.
“We managed the game really well. It’s eleven unbeaten now, and the lads are rising to every challenge as they come.
“It’s been a tough few weeks for us, after the Nuneaton draw at home which obviously caused a lot of pressure, but I’m so pleased for everyone.
“The lads have bounced back superbly with a big win over Chorley, before two huge away wins at Curzon Ashton and now Yeovil.”
As the hosts looked to apply the pressure in the second-half, ‘keeper Ben Hinchliffe stood tall to produce a number of stunning saves – before substitute Frank Mulhern took advantage of a calamitous defensive mixup to stroll past both centre-half and goalkeeper and walk the ball into the empty net.
In truth, County never looked like letting their remarkable two-goal lead slip with half an hour remaining; and could have come away with an even bigger win as Mulhern went close with a long-range chip.
“From front to the back – and the lads from the bench, like Connor Dimaio and Frank Mulhern - we’ve been really solid and professional.
“I love being manager of this club, and I’m really pleased that our journey continues. We’ll savour the moment for now, but we have to switch focus back towards Brackley this coming Saturday.
“A big win in that game would see us really consolidate our league position.”
Kevin Wilkin’s Brackley, sitting in the final play-off position in the National League North, travel to Edgeley Park this weekend as County return to league action looking for a first home league win since September, despite their solid run of form.