New away record* for our 12th man
I WAS told on Sunday evening that the 5110 members of the traveling faithful was not only the biggest away following in England of the weekend but also the biggest ever away following of the FA Cup first round –of all time!
Now I’m not going to start checking records but the pictures circulating on social media not only shows a packed away end that did our club proud but that the 12th man is still well and truly alive and very, very vocal.
For the home side this must have been seen as a potential banana skin (and so it very nearly was) so much so that they played a strong side including a couple of ex-premiership players.
If they’re honest, though they didn’t exactly boss the game as much as they thought they would because County were fantastic.
Yes they had the majority of the ball and yes they looked bigger and fitter but Dave Challinor and his backroom staff had done their work and set us up to soak up pressure and attack with purpose.
It was no surprise therefore that we opened the scoring; Scott Quigley latched on to a wayward pass, rounded his marker and shot through the keeper’s legs.
The south stand went crazy and the noise levels increased.
The home side didn’t mess about and scored two goals in quick succession. First, Doyle had a simple tap in after a quick Bolton break and then just three minutes later, Kachunga pounced on a loose ball after Ethan Ross had done very well to parry a shot.
However, the travelling faithful still had something to cheer as Ben Whitfield ended a fantastic bit of passing football to equalize for the Mighty County.
Paddy Madden had a great header brilliantly saved by the home keeper.
At half time we were still holding our own.
The second half didn’t have too much of goal mouth action.
Quigs had a great chance to put us in the lead again, he broke for our half, left his man for dead but his touch was too heavy and the keeper raced out to clear the ball.
The game ended with three empty stands and one that was still full, you can decide which one we were in.
The replay will be next week, before that we’ll be on the TV for the Bromley game, who knows, maybe Notlob will be too.