An F.A. Cup Tale Of The Unexpected

[Diego_Sideburns]

The 2^nd Round draw threw up Crewe v Burton or Alty, so although no incentive should be needed, it added to today’s tie the prospect of either a great Cheshire derby game or a return to Gresty Road for ex-latics loanee Calvin Zola – would he play today like Adebayor does on a good day or like Ian Ormondroyd did on a bad day?

 

Playing for Alty were ex-Latics Danny Hall and Ryan Brooke, who was a sub in the 88th minute. The Brewers’ captain was ex-Latics Zander Diamond and Marcus Holness was an unused sub.

 

It was a game of a missed penalty for both teams and two Brewers’ own goals. Albion, who were completely outplayed by Blue Square Bet North Alty for 75% of the time, came back from 0-2 at half-time and 2-3 in the 85^th minute to snatch an underserved 3-3 draw, with a brilliant cross laying on an unmissable header for Calvin ‘Ormondroyd’ in stoppage time

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It was also a game of two extra flags - I thought I’d seen everything that could possibly happen in a match, but I was wrong. First the linesman’s flag button wasn’t working so he was brought a replacement. He threw the original one on the ground behind him and got on with his job. Then mascot Billy Brewer picked up the flag and started to wave it from behind the linesman while play was in progress. It looked funny, but was obviously likely to be a distraction to the players and the ref. So Billy was sent off and trudged round three sides of the pitch to go out of sight in the interior of the stand. I was amazed when he came out at half-time as if nothing had happened, but he did eventually get the message about what being sent off means. It’ll be interesting to see if it gets mentioned in the ref’s report and if Billy gets called up before the F.A. Disciplinary Committee.

 

A Burton player worked wonders to keep a ball in play over in the corner, and as he fell he kicked both ball and corner flag, breaking it into four pieces. Play was stopped to remove the bits from the pitch. One of the subs offered to stand in the corner holding the bit containing the flag, and then he planted it back in the corner when his offer was declined. Then the ref removed it because it was a safety-risk, and the game continued until a replacement flag was provided.

 

The flagging Brewers were given a football lesson by their part-time opponents, 52 places below them on the football ladder, but credit goes to them for the fightback in an enthralling game. I love the F.A. Cup!