Fleetwood || Jamie Milligan 18 [pen], 66 [pen]

A record Highbury Stadium attendance of 3,112 witnessed a pulsating FA Cup tie; the home side earning a narrow victory thanks to a brace of penalties by man of the match, Jamie Milligan. Town started the game the brighter; the fit again Andy Bell forcing a fine save from the FCUM keeper who tipped a fierce drive over the bar. Danny Hurst was in similarly superlative form at the other end; his triple save thwarting a despairing Rory Patterson. Fleetwood took the lead after 18 minutes; Milligan winning and then converting a penalty which he finished with customary aplomb. FCUM’s reply was immediate and within seven minutes Patterson scored a deserved equalizer; the talented front man bursting on to a through ball before beating Hurst with a clinically directed shot.

Bell made way for Steve Foster at half time; the substitute instantly making an impression with a fine effort from outside the box which was well saved. Overall, the second half was less dramatic but burst into life on the hour mark when Richard Allen was dismissed following an off the ball incident. Undaunted; the ten men stuck to their task and with Phil Robinson on for Ciaran Donnelly to beef up the Town defence Fleetwood continued to look the more likely winners. And on 66 minutes, Milligan grabbed the winner; Foster winning a penalty after his burst into the penalty area ended with him being unceremoniously fouled. Milligan kept his cool and again sent the keeper the wrong way. The impressive Alex Taylor almost grabbed a third after replacing the hard working Phil Denney in the dying minutes but the final whistle signalled a 2-1 victory for the hosts and a place in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup. Fine displays by Milligan, Hurst and Denney in what was a sound team performance. 

There were talking points before a ball had even been kicked on a sunny day by the sea – the match was delayed as they referee was forced to take the players off the pitch after Sam Ashton twice went down when he was hit by objects from the crowd. Afterwards, the referee said he would make reference to the incident in his match report, but FC boss Karl Marginson said he would not like to see Fleetwood be sanctioned.

When the match did get underway it was the home side in red and white who started the better. They took the lead on 12 minutes when Milligan finished coolly from the spot after the ref awarded a 50/50 penalty. United, in their third-choice blue kit, hit back straight away, showing plenty of pace at the other end through the on-rushing midfielder Simon Carden, who was linking up well with striker Rory Patterson. And it was Rory Patterson who put FC back into the contest when he got on the end of a through ball and slotted the ball into the bottom left-hand corner for 1-1.

Controversy continued after the break when, on 58 minutes, Jerome Wright got involved in confrontation with Fleetwood's Kieran Walmsley who was booked after hitting out at the United winger. And just a minute later, there was a further clash when Rob Nugent claimed he was spat at by Fleetwood's Ritchie Allen. Allen was sent off for the offence and it looked the visitors would take control of the game in the final half hour.

Instead, it was Fleetwood who adapted better. They were awarded a spotkick for a clearcut foul on 66 minutes, which was again converted by Milligan without fuss into the bottom left-hand corner to put the red and whites in the lead. Despite putting constant pressure on the Town goal in the closing stages, United were unable to create any real chances and their day ended in frustration.

My favourite cup competition comes round again once more this afternoon and wouldn’t it be great to emulate, or go even better than our last season’s success? Well that all depends, of course, on how we get on against our very welcome visitors today, in the form of the Football Club United of Manchester, on their very first visit to our fine Highbury Stadium. We are hoping for a bumper attendance and, if we can hit 2915, it would be the biggest home crowd since we drew 2-2 against Rochdale forty two years ago - when I was just a boy! We have played quite a few FA Cup matches since then, but here is just a sample of First Qualifying Round games of yester year (that don’t seem to bode too well for us!) against teams from Manchester and the surrounding area: 

I am sure that today’s event will bring the vocals out and I certainly hope to be back on form. This will be a day to remember for years to come and if we have to visit Bury to finish them off so be it! I haven’t been there before so it would be a new experience and an excuse for a night out. See you all back in the league at Eastwood next Saturday.