Chasetown Bring the FA Cup Back to Life
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The FA Cup has a history of being a magical competition. It throws all teams into the pot, and has a history of throwing up huge upsets.
The Second Round saw Chasetown pitted against Port Vale. Port Vale are from League One, the third tier of English football, and are having a good season in their League. Comparatively, Chasetown come from the Midland League Division 1. I.e. they are out of the football league (the fourth tier of non-league football), and are essentially five tiers down the pyramid from Port Vale. They are struggling in their league, however. Port Vale are a professional side, whereas Chasetown are completely amateur. They train in the evening after a day at work. Yet in the FA Cup, they matched up to face each other in the 2nd round.
The match was drawn to be held at Port Vale's ground. On 2nd December, Port Vale could only draw 1-1 with lowly Chasetown. The celebrations said it all.
The result earned Chasetown a replay, at their home ground, on 13th December.
Before the game, the Chasetown players gathered in the club bar, and were fulfilling media commitments. The amateur part-timers arrived after a full day's work. Comparatively, the Port Vale side has spent the day travelling the short distance to Chasetown, after three days worth of training for the match. The fans had turned up two hours before kickoff for the event. The attendance was 1,936 people, a mark that is pretty near capacity for the stadium.
It was a typical night where things can happen. It was a bitterly cold, blustery evening. It had rained, and the pitch was in good condition at amateur level, but it was a far cry from what the Vale side would be used to playing on. The first half was a dull affair, but the match came to life in the second half. As Port Vale attacked, Vaughan Taylor was fouled, and they won a penalty. But Luke Rogers blasted the ball against the crossbar. Rogers won a second penalty a few minutes later, and this time Lee Evans in the Chasetown goal was equal to it.
As time ran out, Chasetown came on the attack, and in the last minute, Danny Smith headed a goal that would prove to be the game winner. The 1-0 win put them into the Third Round (the last 64), and a home tie against Cardiff City on the first Saturday in January.
More importantly, in a week where there has been much debate over whether Fabio Capello should be the new England national manager, there was something that brought a smile to everybody's face. Well, unless you're a Vale fan!
So, congratulations to Chasetown, who have brought the FA Cup back to life.
