Phil, seeing as you are spending all your money on taking women to FA Cup ties rather than subscribing to The Times website, I'll put the full report on here for you.....!
Burton Albion 3 Altrincham 3:
Altrincham fail to hold lead in match of missed penalties
Altrincham, from the Blue Square Bet North, were seconds away from adding to the first-round upsets before a late goal for Burton Albion from Calvin Zola, a forward who started his career with Newcastle United.
It was deep into stoppage time yesterday when Zola headed home to earn Burton a replay at Moss Lane, with a second-round tie away to Crewe Alexandra awaiting the winners.
Altrincham, who earned a formidable a reputation as FA Cup giantkillers during the 1980s, are still convinced that they can go on to seal a place in the next round.
Matt Doughty, the Altrincham defender, insisted that Burton were fortunate to survive.
“I’m absolutely gutted,” he said. “They had nothing except long balls and set-pieces. I’m proud to be an Altrincham player today.”
Burton, from npower League Two, could certainly count themselves fortunate. They trailed 2-0 at the interval after surviving a fifth-minute scare when Mark Oxley, their goalkeeper on loan from Hull City, saved a penalty by Damian Reeves, making amends in the best possible manner after he had brought down Simon Richman.
Carl Rodgers did put the non-League side ahead in the 29th minute when he reacted first to divert in a cross from Nicky Clee, a winger who troubled Burton throughout the game.
Clee was involved again five minutes later when his cross was turned into his own goal by Nathan Stanton to put Altrincham in firm control.
Zander Diamond sparked a comeback as he scored early in the second half, stabbing in Lee Bell’s free kick from close range.
Robbie Weir missed a penalty for Burton when he blazed over after Jake Moult had handled inside the area, but they did equalise through Jacques Maghoma, before an own goal by Damien McCrory restored Altrincham’s lead with only five minutes remaining.
Zola had the last word , however, when he headed in Jordan Chapell’s cross in the third minute of stoppage time.
Gary Rowett, the Burton manager, was a relieved man at the end. The former Derby County player said: “I thought Altrincham were absolutely fantastic.
“We’ve seen again that the FA Cup is still a magical competition because this was a game that had a little bit of everything.
“That’s what this competition is all about, with the lower league team rising to the occasion . I take my hat off to them because in spells of the game they did really, really well.”
Burton Albion (4-4-2): M Oxley — N Stanton, A O’Connor, Z Diamond, D McCrory — L Bell, J Maghoma, R Weir, J Chapell — W Kee (sub: M Paterson, 69 min), C Zola. Substitutes not used: D Lyness, C Taylor, J Richards, C Palmer, M Holness, J Dyer. Booked: Weir.
Altrincham (4-4-2): S Coburn — S Leather, D Hall, M Doughty, S Densmore — C Rodgers, J Moult, S Richman, D Reeves (sub: R Brooke, 81) — N Clee (sub: D Watmore, 81), J Lawrie, Substitutes not used: A Reid, S Grimshaw, P Lacey, D Mitchley. Booked: Densmore, Reeves.
Referee: M Bull. Attendance: 1,989.
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A hero speaks
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