Marine continued the fairytale of the FA Cup as they hosted Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur to Rossett Park.
The eighth tier club sold 30,000 virtual tickets for ten pounds apiece; heading into the game of the club’s life.
Marine Set For Life After Selling 30,000 Virtual Tickets
Marine Continue Magic of the FA Cup
Some lucky fans got to watch from the comfort of their back gardens as they got a glimpse of Gareth Bale; the world’s most expensive player in 2013. Each household has its own number on the side of the stand, to know which house to knock on if the ball goes over the fence. The magic of the cup!
161 places separated these two sides heading into this scintillating tie, Marine playing their football in the eighth tier of English football whilst Tottenham were sitting in an admirable 3rd in the Premier League. Several of the Marine squad had taken a week off work in preparation for this once in a lifetime opportunity. Striker Nial Cummins was busy preparing homework booklets as the school teacher prepared for another lockdown whilst his teammate and goalkeeper Bayleigh Passant was busy stocking shelves at Sainsbury’s.
Mourinho in Marine
Jose Mourinho showed the utmost respect to the non-league side naming several big-name players in the starting eleven. Dele Alli was handed a rare start and was looking to prove a point to the boss. It was Alli who had the first chance of the game when his tame shot trickled into the hands of the young Marine keeper which ought to give him some much-needed confidence for the rest of the outing.
In the 9th minute, Lucas Moura had the first big sight of goal, however, his wild shot soar over the crossbar. Joe Hart had his heart in his mouth when forward Neil Kengni‘s speculative 30-yard effort cannoned off the crossbar, forcing Hart to tip the looping ball out for a corner.
Four minutes later Tottenham had the breakthrough; Dele Alli playing a defence-splitting one-two with Gedson Fernandes, before playing a great sliding through ball to Carlos Vinicius. He miscontrolled the ball initially but it fell kindly for him to take it round the goalkeeper and smash home.
The heavens then opened for Spurs who showed Marine no mercy. Vinicius getting his second on the 29th minute, tapping in after the Marine keeper Passant made a great save to deny Matt Doherty. It didn’t stop there for Spurs, Brazilian midfielder Moura then scored a world-class free-kick, rifling it into the top left corner. Vinicius had his hat-trick in the first-half on the 37th minute. The Brazilian sent a looping ball into the top left-hand corner after the ball wasn’t fully cleared and that sent Tottenham into the break; four goals to the good.
Deadly Devine
At half time, Mourinho brought on some fresh legs. One player came in the form of Alfie Devine who was handed his Tottenham debut. At 16-years-old he is the youngest Tottenham player and nine minutes later was the youngest Tottenham goalscorer. A lovely backheel from Lucas allowed Devine to take a shot on goal. His eyes lit up and managed to deceive the goalkeeper with a sharp-witted near post shot, making 5-0 to Spurs.
Marine Beaten in Third Round of FA Cup
A performance every Marine player can be proud of. Many wrote them off and thought it would have been double figures. Now facing reality again, they will all go back on furlough as the Northern Premier League has been suspended due to the current government guidelines.
Full Time: Marine 0-5 Tottenham Hotspur
Main Image Credit
Embed from Getty Images