Reality returned to the FA Cup ahead of Monday’s fourth-round draw, but not before non-league Yeading kept neutral fans on the edge of their seats as they chased the biggest upset in the 133-year history of the competition.
Their match against Newcastle United was, on paper at least, the greatest FA Cup mismatch of all time with the Premiership side 123 places and six divisions above the Ryman League leaders.
And just 24 hours after Conference leaders Exeter held Manchester United to a goalless draw at Old Trafford, a similarly astonishing scoreline was on the cards for nearly an hour until goals from Lee Bowyer and Shola Ameobi gave Newcastle a 2-0 win.
Across London at Highbury another upset was taking shape when Championship side Stoke took a 1-0 lead on the stroke of half-time through Wayne Thomas before goals from strikers Jose Antonio Reyes and Robin van Persie secured a 2-1 victory for the Premiership champions.
But it was at Queens Park Rangers’ Loftus Road — Yeading were forced to move the ”home” tie from their nearby Warren base because the Football Association (FA) said it was too small to stage the match — where for 51 minutes the semi-professionals threatened to create history before Bowyer netted.
No wonder emotional Yeading boss Johnson Hippolyte, who earns his living fitting kitchen worktops, said afterwards: ”Apart from my kids being born, this is the second-proudest day of my life.
”A lot of those lads have had disappointments earlier in their career, but I knew they had the character and they showed it today.
”Not being full-time was always going to be an issue, but the boys did ever so well,” added Hippolyte, whose team’s next match is a humble league match against Harrow Town.
Yeading outpassed Newcastle during the first half and such was their impact United boss Graeme Souness substituted Titus Bramble at the interval rather than run the risk of the defender collecting a second yellow card.
”In the first half, we weren’t competing enough and I took Bramble off in case he got sent off,” said Souness.
Souness, hoping to guide Newcastle to their first Cup final win in 50 years and seventh overall, added: ”Yeading kept going right up until we got our second goal. They are a team that’s used to winning, they are a team that has that taste of victory most weekends and they brought that with them today.”
Meanwhile, Stoke were left thinking of what might have been after Ade Akinbiyi’s on-target effort, when the match was still goalless, was ruled out for a push by the striker on Arsenal’s Phillipe Senderos.
Even Gunners boss Arsene Wenger thought the ”goal” should have stood, saying: ”I have seen it again and, for me, there was not a lot wrong in there. Stoke did very well but we just had enough quality to slip through.”
Stoke manager Tony Pulis added: ”We thought it was a fair challenge when Ade and the centre-half came together. On another day, that decision could have gone for us.
”The players have given us everything and I’m really pleased for them.”
But the day was really about Yeading, and their goalkeeper, Delroy Priddie, was left with an interesting take on ”the magic of the Cup”.
He stood to win a brand new car from The Sun, Britain’s biggest-selling daily newspaper, if he kept a clean sheet.
Instead, he ended the game with a broken little finger in his right hand after saving a shot from Jermaine Jenas. — Sapa-AFP