Seventh-tier Wimborne Town produced a huge shock with a 2-0 win against Crawley Town in a frenetic day of FA Cup first round action on Sunday.
A poor throw by Crawley keeper Vito Mannone ended up at the feet of Yang Seung-woo, whose sensational strike from distance found the net off the inside of the left post.
The Dorset side, who play in the Southern League Premier Division South, went toe-to-toe with the League Two strugglers for large periods of the match, and reaped the rewards for their bravery in the 79th minute.
Jackson King cut in from the left and saw his effort deflect off Cameron Munn to give them some daylight, but they didn’t need it. Crawley huffed and puffed but could not break through at the Wyatt Homes Stadium.
Wimborne are the second seventh-tier side in the hat for Monday’s draw, after Guiseley’s win against Sutton United, with Plymouth Parkway or Berkhamsted set to join them after tomorrow evening’s tie.
More upsets seemed to be on the cards in two other matches on Sunday.
Eighth-tier Stafford Rangers came close to providing an almighty upset against League Two Grimsby Town, who ply their trade four divisions above, before bowing out on penalty kicks.
The Northern Premier League Division One West outfit sent Marston Road into raptures with two first-half goals, and Grimsby were rocking.
Within three minutes of kick-off, firefighter Darrhyl Mason hared onto a long ball and rasped his effort high into the corner of the net.
And when Jack Birch tucked home a rebound from a narrow angle after Bebeto Gomes’ deflected effort was palmed out by Mariners goalkeeper Harvey Cartwright, the shock was on
But Grimsby are no stranger to a giant-killing, having delivered one themselves against Manchester United two seasons ago, and they hit back.
Harvey Rodgers and Maldini Kacurri both headed in an Iwan Morgan free-kick in a manic two minutes to force extra time.
Stafford thought they had won it once more when Mason scored from close range in the third minute of extra time, but Faroese international Geza Davis Turi calmly slotted home to make it 3-3.
Cartwright saved Birch, Harvey Washington, and Luca Navarro’s efforts in the penalty shootout to send Grimsby through and end eighth-tier involvement in the FA Cup for another year.
Cray Wanderers were mere minutes away from a famous victory against League One Stockport County, which looked likely for much of the afternoon before the visitors rallied to win 3-2.
Sammie McLeod slotted home on 21 minutes before County goalkeeper Luca Ashby-Hammond was sent off for a last-man tackle.
And when Alex Hernández doubled Wanderers’ lead with a sumptuous strike from the resulting free-kick, the writing looked like it was on the wall for the 10-man visitors.
It took 81 minutes for Stockport to finally hit back through Kyle Wootton, who headed home Josh Dacres-Cogley’s cross, and the momentum switched quickly despite their numerical disadvantage.
When Mikael Mandron levelled in the first minute of injury time to make it 2-2, Wanderers’ bubble was burst.
Eventually, Lewis Fiorini’s extra-time penalty proved the difference after JJ Briggs’ foul, sending County through in dramatic fashion.
In the day’s late kick-off, Oldham Athletic beat Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 in extra time.
The League Two side took the lead midway through the second half through Calum Kavanagh but were pegged back by their League One opponents ten minutes later as Davis Keillor-Dunn struck.
Will Sutton eventually notched the winner for Oldham with ten minutes left to go in extra time to seal the Latics’ passage through to the second round.
