Haughmond creating more moments to remember
For clubs such as Haughmond, the magic of the FA Cup is very much still alive.
The Shrewsbury Sports Village outfit enjoyed a historic run in the competition last campaign. They recorded wins against Alvechurch, Wolverhampton Sporting, Bedworth United and Matlock Town before finally bowing out in the second qualifying round at the hands of Boston United, who are in the same division as AFC Telford United and needed a replay to see off Mond.
And Dan Williams’ side would match their finest run in the world’s oldest cup competition with a win tomorrow, at Mickleover Sports.
They’ve got to the first qualifying round thanks to victories over Wolves Sporting and Market Drayton Town – coming out on top in a replay at Greenfields, 1-0 on Tuesday night.
Those triumphs have saw them earn £5,140 and an against-the-odds success at Mickleover would see them pocket another £6,000.
“I was delighted with the performance against Drayton,” said Williams.
“Saturday (a 4-2 loss to Saffron Dynamo in the FA Vase) wasn’t good enough so the way we responded was first class.
“The attitude and resilience that we showed was very good.
“Steve Hole got the goal and he’s been brilliant for us over a sustained period of time.
“He’ll be the first to admit that he didn’t have a great first half but he picked up in the second half, got his goal, and hopefully he can push on from that.”
Williams is hoping their Cup exploits can spark a fine run of form in the league.
Results in the Midland Premier took a downturn after they caught the eye in the Cup last year, so much so that they ended up being relegated.
Williams insists there is no pressure on his men – it is all on Mickleover.
“We beat Matlock and then Boston were even higher than them, and we got a draw there,” added Williams. “We massively rode our luck at Boston but we got a draw and we’ll never forget the win against Matlock, doing it right at the end.
“We go into this game with no pressure. The onus is on Mickleover, the home team, to get the win.
“We’ll just stay in the game for as long as we can and see how it goes – we know it will be hard but you never know.”
He added: “We’re all buzzing. It’s just another great experience for the club and for the lads.
“Having just taken on the manager’s job as well, it’s nice for me – and everyone behind the scenes. It’s great exposure for the club.”
