Mansfield Town, of League Two, the lowest tier of the English league, defeated tiny part-timers Harrogate Railway to go into Third Round of the FA Cup, the world's oldest and most famous domestic soccer competition. Mansfield Town now play Brighton in the Third Round of this knock-out competition.
The Harrogate Railway players are all part-timers and have jobs such as postmen and bankers. Despite Mansfield being in the bottom tier of the English PROFESSIONAL league, they themselves are four division higher than tiny amateurs Harrogate.
Harrogate Railway gets its unique name as the team was founded in 1935 when workers from Starbeck LNER locomotive shed formed an adult team to play in the Harrogate & District League. In 1946 the side consisted entirely of railway men and reached the British Railways National Cup Final.
This success prompted the club to go in search of a ground of their own but they stayed at Station View when the LNER said that they would lend the club the £1,500 necessary to purchase the site, providing 300 rail workers would agree to having 1d a week stopped from their wages to finance the repayments. More than sufficient volunteers signed up and they did not have long to wait for their faith to be repaid on the pitch.
Mansfield end Railway dream
By James Masters. Sunday, 02 December 2007.
The FA Cup, sponsored by E.ON
Second Round Proper
1.10pm, Sunday 2 December 2007
Station View, Harrogate
Harrogate Railway 2-3 Mansfield Town
Davidson 60,83.......Jelleyman 37
............................Boulding 50,76
Mansfield Town (in the light blue) marched on to the Third Round of the FA Cup at the expense of tiny Harrogate Railway.
Harrogate Railway's FA Cup dream came off the rails at Station View after League Two Mansfield recorded a 3-2 victory in their second round clash.
Danny Davidson's impressive brace had given the hosts real hope of forcing a replay after falling behind their higher ranked opponents.
Harrogate Railway celebrate a goal
But Railway were unable to build up a head of steam in the final stages as their Cup dream was left to crash and burn in full view of the television cameras.
Gareth Jelleyman's fortuitous strike gave the visitors the lead, before former Aston Villa man Michael Boulding doubled their advantage six minutes after the break.
And despite Davidson's powerful thumping header reigniting the hope of a famous Cup upset, Boulding's second of the game looked to have put pay to any hopes the Northern Premier Division side may have had of making it into the Third Round.
However, Davidson's 84th minute strike gave Harrogate another sniff of glory and the striker came close to grabbing a dramatic equaliser late on, only for Carl Muggleton to save his curling effort.
Railway started off like an express train and could have taken the lead within the first three minutes after Scott Byrne's free-kick smashed against the crossbar.
And the home side continued full steam ahead as Mansfield struggled to adapt to the boggy conditions and the constant downpour.
However, despite failing to produce some of their more fluent football, it was Mansfield that went into the break ahead thanks to a rather fortunate strike from Jelleyman, who diverted a clearance past goalkeeper John Mclaughlin.
Mansfield improved after the break and Michael Boulding wasted little time in adding a second as Billy Dearden's side took an iron grip on proceedings.
Boulding ran onto a flicked header by brother Rory, before sidestepping a challenge and slotting the ball past Mclaughlin from close range.
With Railway running out of steam, Vince Brockie threw on substitute Danny Davidson and within 60 seconds it appeared an inspired piece of management.
Davidson was fouled by Lee Bell and from the resulting free-kick, the substitute rose highest to power home Byron Littlefair's cross and give his side a lifeline.
That goal woke the home fans from their slumber, but no sooner had they begun to dream of securing a replay at Field Mill, Michael Boulding touched home a Simon Brown cross to restore Mansfield's lead.
That goal appeared to have finally broken Railway's resistance, but inspired by substitute Davidson, Railway roused themselves for one final push.
And with the clock ticking down, Davidson, a banker by trade, smashed home from close-range with six minutes of normal time remaining to set up a nerve jangling finale.
Harrogate huffed and puffed in the final few minutes in an effort to find what would have been a deserved equaliser - but Mansfield somehow managed to hang on to book themselves a place in the Third Round of the competition.
Here are the fixtures of the FA Cup third round :
Preston v Scun thorpe
Port Vale or Chasetown v Cardiff
Colchester v Peterborough
Bolton v Sheffield United
Blackburn v Coventry
Brighton v Mansfield
Northampton or Walsall v Millwall
Charlton v West Brom
Watford v Crystal Palace
Luton or Nottingham Forest v Liverpool
Plymouth v Hull
Aston Villa v Manchester United
Tranmere v Hereford
Tottenham v Reading
Burnley v Arsenal
Bristol City v Middlesbrough
Fulham v Bristol Rovers
Huddersfield v Birmingham
Horsham or Swansea v Havant & Waterlooville
Sunderland v Wigan
Oxford or Southend v Dagenham & Redbridge
Everton v Oldham
Derby v Sheffield Wednesday
Southampton v Leicester
West Ham v Manchester City
Ipswich v Portsmouth
Wolves v Cambridge
Barnsley v Blackpool
Chelsea v QPR
Stoke v Newcastle
Swindon v Burton Albion or Barnet
Norwich v Bury
Ties to be played on 5/6 January
thefa.com
The Harrogate Railway players are all part-timers and have jobs such as postmen and bankers. Despite Mansfield being in the bottom tier of the English PROFESSIONAL league, they themselves are four division higher than tiny amateurs Harrogate.
Harrogate Railway gets its unique name as the team was founded in 1935 when workers from Starbeck LNER locomotive shed formed an adult team to play in the Harrogate & District League. In 1946 the side consisted entirely of railway men and reached the British Railways National Cup Final.
This success prompted the club to go in search of a ground of their own but they stayed at Station View when the LNER said that they would lend the club the £1,500 necessary to purchase the site, providing 300 rail workers would agree to having 1d a week stopped from their wages to finance the repayments. More than sufficient volunteers signed up and they did not have long to wait for their faith to be repaid on the pitch.
Mansfield end Railway dream
By James Masters. Sunday, 02 December 2007.
The FA Cup, sponsored by E.ON
Second Round Proper
1.10pm, Sunday 2 December 2007
Station View, Harrogate
Harrogate Railway 2-3 Mansfield Town
Davidson 60,83.......Jelleyman 37
............................Boulding 50,76
Mansfield Town (in the light blue) marched on to the Third Round of the FA Cup at the expense of tiny Harrogate Railway.
Harrogate Railway's FA Cup dream came off the rails at Station View after League Two Mansfield recorded a 3-2 victory in their second round clash.
Danny Davidson's impressive brace had given the hosts real hope of forcing a replay after falling behind their higher ranked opponents.
Harrogate Railway celebrate a goal
But Railway were unable to build up a head of steam in the final stages as their Cup dream was left to crash and burn in full view of the television cameras.
Gareth Jelleyman's fortuitous strike gave the visitors the lead, before former Aston Villa man Michael Boulding doubled their advantage six minutes after the break.
And despite Davidson's powerful thumping header reigniting the hope of a famous Cup upset, Boulding's second of the game looked to have put pay to any hopes the Northern Premier Division side may have had of making it into the Third Round.
However, Davidson's 84th minute strike gave Harrogate another sniff of glory and the striker came close to grabbing a dramatic equaliser late on, only for Carl Muggleton to save his curling effort.
Railway started off like an express train and could have taken the lead within the first three minutes after Scott Byrne's free-kick smashed against the crossbar.
And the home side continued full steam ahead as Mansfield struggled to adapt to the boggy conditions and the constant downpour.
However, despite failing to produce some of their more fluent football, it was Mansfield that went into the break ahead thanks to a rather fortunate strike from Jelleyman, who diverted a clearance past goalkeeper John Mclaughlin.
Mansfield improved after the break and Michael Boulding wasted little time in adding a second as Billy Dearden's side took an iron grip on proceedings.
Boulding ran onto a flicked header by brother Rory, before sidestepping a challenge and slotting the ball past Mclaughlin from close range.
With Railway running out of steam, Vince Brockie threw on substitute Danny Davidson and within 60 seconds it appeared an inspired piece of management.
Davidson was fouled by Lee Bell and from the resulting free-kick, the substitute rose highest to power home Byron Littlefair's cross and give his side a lifeline.
That goal woke the home fans from their slumber, but no sooner had they begun to dream of securing a replay at Field Mill, Michael Boulding touched home a Simon Brown cross to restore Mansfield's lead.
That goal appeared to have finally broken Railway's resistance, but inspired by substitute Davidson, Railway roused themselves for one final push.
And with the clock ticking down, Davidson, a banker by trade, smashed home from close-range with six minutes of normal time remaining to set up a nerve jangling finale.
Harrogate huffed and puffed in the final few minutes in an effort to find what would have been a deserved equaliser - but Mansfield somehow managed to hang on to book themselves a place in the Third Round of the competition.
Here are the fixtures of the FA Cup third round :
Preston v Scun thorpe
Port Vale or Chasetown v Cardiff
Colchester v Peterborough
Bolton v Sheffield United
Blackburn v Coventry
Brighton v Mansfield
Northampton or Walsall v Millwall
Charlton v West Brom
Watford v Crystal Palace
Luton or Nottingham Forest v Liverpool
Plymouth v Hull
Aston Villa v Manchester United
Tranmere v Hereford
Tottenham v Reading
Burnley v Arsenal
Bristol City v Middlesbrough
Fulham v Bristol Rovers
Huddersfield v Birmingham
Horsham or Swansea v Havant & Waterlooville
Sunderland v Wigan
Oxford or Southend v Dagenham & Redbridge
Everton v Oldham
Derby v Sheffield Wednesday
Southampton v Leicester
West Ham v Manchester City
Ipswich v Portsmouth
Wolves v Cambridge
Barnsley v Blackpool
Chelsea v QPR
Stoke v Newcastle
Swindon v Burton Albion or Barnet
Norwich v Bury
Ties to be played on 5/6 January
thefa.com