A CROWD OF NEARLY 1,000 braved driving wind and rain in the expectation of witnessing the latest chapter in Blyth Spartans’ glorious FA Cup exploits. But Blyth came close to being hoist on their own petard at Croft Park on Saturday as lowly Chasetown, from the Midland Alliance, came within five minutes of claiming a famous victory and a lucrative home tie against Oldham Athletic in the first round.

Since their charge to the FA Cup fifth round in 1978, when only an errant corner flag and a thrice-taken corner in injury time against Wrexham denied them a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals against Arsenal, Blyth’s name has been synonymous with FA Cup giant-killing. It is seven years since they flexed their muscles against Football League opposition, a 4-3 reverse away to Blackpool, and facing opposition from two leagues below them they anticipated adding to their roll of honour.

But in true FA Cup tradition, Chasetown had failed to read the script. The Staffordshire side led twice in a fractious match and it took a dubious penalty late in the second half to earn Blyth a replay and a trip to Walsall and Scholars Stadium tomorrow. “It was disappointing not to hold on to the lead, but if you had said to me at three o’clock: ‘Would you take two-all?’, I would have,” Charlie Blakemore, the Chasetown manager, said. “I’m so proud of our team.”

As the manger and players crowded into the Croft Park clubhouse, the sense of expectancy was high, befitting a club that has never earned a place in the first-round draw in their 51-year history. With the balls of Nottingham Forest, Bristol City, Bradford City and Swindon Town drawn early, Blakemore said: “I can’t believe we’re in the draw with the likes of these.”

When Sir Tom Finney selected ball No 53 for a home tie, the clubhouse erupted, and when Roy Bentley revealed Oldham as the opponents the volume, if possible, increased. “A fabulous draw, but there is still a lot of work to do,” Blakemore said. “We have had seven games to get this far and it really is a dream come true. This will stay with the club for years and the players have got to enjoy it. To come to Blyth Spartans away and draw two-each is a remarkable result and we have got it all to play for on Tuesday.”

Despite their lowly status, Chasetown were never going to be an easy proposition for Blyth. They arrived unbeaten in 17 matches since opening the campaign with two successive defeats and the manner in which they took the match to their more illustrious opponents was indicative of their confidence.

Lee Bullimore opened the scoring, shooting high into an unguarded net after Adam Bartlett, the goalkeeper, had blocked his first effort. Peter Snowdon, the centre back, restored parity six minutes later with a powerful far-post header and when Steve Edwards fired in a low shot with eight minutes left, it looked all over for Blyth. However, when Graham Fenton used all his experience gained at Blackburn Rovers and Aston Villa to convince the referee that he had been hauled down in the penalty area, Robbie Dale stepped up to save Blyth’s blushes and keep the dream alive for both clubs.

Blyth Spartans (3-5-2): A Bartlett — P Snowdon, R Foster, B Smith — L Gildea (sub: M Peace, 85min), C Price, G Fenton, G Williams, A Leeson — R Dale, S Bell. Substitutes not used: S Johnson, S Hanlon, C Priest, C Turns. Booked: Fenton, Dale

Chasetown (3-5-2): M Taylor — S Edwards, C Slater, K Thompson — N Aulton, N Harrison, D Horler, C Harris, D Whitcombe — L Bullimore, K Edwards (sub: A Turner, 70). Substitutes not used: R Huckfield, S Ulfig, L Parsons, L Gough. Booked: Whitcombe, Harrison, Bullimore

Referee: K Haycock

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