Chasetown 1 Oldham Athletic 1

After all the hype and build up, the day finally arrived. It was a day when hearts could be broken and a day where history could be made. Little Chasetown, who had never even played league opposition before, had nothing to lose and Athletic could have gone into the FA record books as being part of the biggest ever FA Cup shock of the competition. The Staffordshire team were seven leagues and 133 places below Oldham, a team who had gone to the FA Cup semi-finals on three occasions. It could have been an omen that 79 year old Frank Carson, a friend of Chasetown's Chairman, was watching the game. I don't know if he had any pre-match predictions but it could have been the "way he tells 'em!"

Athletic started the match with a 4-4-2 formation and must have looked at the Colchester result the previous day and thought what if....Colchester had beaten Leamington 9-1 to leave Chasetown as the lowest placed team still in the competition. Leamington play in the same league as Chasetown. Granted, the ground would have a bearing as Colchester were at home but the gap would still remain the same. The game started pretty evenly matched with the home side winning a corner in the 7th. minute which came to nothing. Tierney made a good left wing break in the 11th. minute but the effort came to nought.

Day was lucky in the 12th. minute when his clearance hit Bullimore and the ball bounced into the penalty area but no-one was there to take advantage. A minute later Athletic should have taken the league when a cross from Scott was headed wide by Porter and immediately after a shot from Hughes was blocked away for a corner. Another great chance was thwarted in the 16th. minute when a Warne shot was headed off the line, much to the relief of the home supporters. There was a record 1,997 supporters squashed into the tiny Church Street ground including 450 Athletic fans, and several hundred more spying in from various vantage points outside the ground. The average home gate for Chasetown is 105.

Chasetown shocked the travelling band of Latics fans when they took a shock lead in the 23rd. minute. A corner resulted in the ball being knocked out of the penalty box and 22 year old student Nicky Harrison struck the ball goalwards. The ball hit the left post after a despairing dive from Day and cruelly bounced against the back leg of the keeper and agonisingly rolled over the line to sent the home fans delirious. It was a cruel blow to the visitors.

The Latics were level however in the 31st. minute when a pass from Liddell found Eyres (pictured) with acres of space on the left hand side of the box. Eyres continued his run into the box and finished in fine style when he shot hard and low across the keeper to send the ball into the far corner of the net for the equaliser. Athletic should have taken the lead two minutes from the half time whistle when an Owen header was headed off the line in fine style. Athletic had held around 60% of the first half possession.

The visitors came out for the second half in a more determined mood and started to control the game but Danny Hall received a yellow card in the 52nd, minute for kicking the ball away. The best chance of a goal for Chasetown came from the resulting free kick when a full length diving save from Day was needed to keep the scores level. Tierney was causing havoc to the home defence with some penetrating runs and he set up Porter from such a run in the 57th. minute only to see the forward squander another good goalscoring chance.

Eyres made another chance for Porter in the 64th. minute but he headed wide yet again. Porter was missing the killer instinct and was immediately replaced by Beckett. A goalkeeping error in the 69th. minute almost cost the home side but Eyres was unable to force the ball over the line from the resulting scramble. Day had to be replaced in the 70th. minute after he fell badly. Lance Cronin stepped between the sticks to make his debut and Warne was replaced by Chris Hall in the 81st. minute.

With time running out Turner got behind the Latics defence and looked like causing a shock but for "man of the match" Tierney who came in to save the day yet again. Beckett was brought to ground by the keeper on the penalty spot in the last minute of regulation play but the referee waved play on. With four minutes of added time nearly gone, Athletic had another penalty appeal dismissed when the referee decided that there was no hand ball infringement. Of the two appeals, the Beckett incident did look like a genuine penalty but it was not to be. With seconds ticking away Tierney was cruelly hacked down and the first show of tempers was evident. From the resulting free kick Liddell hit the ball into the wall which was practically the last kick of the game.

So there will be replay on 16th. November. Fair play to Chasetown who did everything they could have done to cause a major upset. They were workmanlike and gave the Latics a fright. They deserved a draw on the day but will it be enough to win through at Boundary Park in the replay? With a good field and home advantage, Athletic look favourites to entertain Brentford in round two. But it's a funny old game is football................