Striker Ben Wood scored twice for the north east side on Tuesday as they continued their incredible run in The Cup, upsetting the odds once again with a 2-0 replay win at Stourbridge.
The Railwaymen made a journey of nearly 200 miles to pull off last night’s upset after a goalless draw on Saturday - a feat made all the more remarkable as they only had a matter of minutes to prepare.
Stourbridge 0-2 Shildon
The FA Cup
Third Round Qualifying Replay
Tuesday 14 October
Winning club receives £7,500 from FA Prize Fund
“We only got to the ground about ten minutes before kick-off, so the match was delayed by five minutes so we could get a quick little warm-up in,” the 23-year-old told TheFA.com.
“It got to about 6 o’clock, and a few of the lads were looking at the sat nav on their phones and it said we were only 45 minutes away, which would have given us an hour to prepare which is about right.
“But I think the driver took a wrong turn, so we only had five minutes or so to get ready when we arrived - but I suppose the five minute delay helped us a little I guess.
“It probably helped us start well, getting straight in to be changed and straight out in the action. We penned them in for the first five or ten minutes.”
Due to work commitments, it was a depleted squad that travelled to the west midlands, but a real squad effort saw the northerners progress according to Wood – although the celebrations were somewhat muted with a shift at Topman awaiting him first thing this morinng.
“We had a few missing to be fair, lads who could not get out of work. But we had one lad who was working in Great Yarmouth, so he travelled up on his own last night for the game – it was a real effort and the lads who came in did fantastic,” he said.
“We deserved to win. They had a little spell in the second half, our keeper made a couple of fantastic saves and after that we were the stronger side.
“There were only a few beers on the coach on the way back, most of us had work this morning. But we were all in good spirits but knackered.
"Most of us had started work earlier in the morning, like at 6am, so we could finish early and get the coach down.
“And I was back at work this morning, so I couldn’t drink too much. I was in at half eight and didn’t get home until about 3.30am, so I’m knackered.
“There were a few lads nodding off to sleep by the end of the trip home.”
Ben Wood in action for Shildon
The Northern League Division One side – the equal lowest-ranked left in The Cup – have only made the First Round Proper once in 50 years. That was back in 2003, but Wood admits they are starting to dream of repeating that this season.
They still have one more hurdle to jump, and Wood’s knows it will be another big ask if they are to navigate their way past North Premier League Division One South side Norton United.
“It’s worked quite well in the previous rounds, and I think it’s easier going in as one of the underdogs. There’s no pressure on you.
“We have gone into games with no fear, have nothing to lose, and we did that against Stourbridge.
“The manager, and a few fans, all said that people were expecting us to get hammered, especially with us missing a few. He told us to go out and play our own game as we had no pressure on us, and that’s what we did.”
He continued: “We’ll take each game at a time and see how it goes, but it is getting to that stage where you start thinking about facing one of the big Football League clubs.
“We’ll just go to Norton and try and treat it like we have the rest. It’s not going to be easy, and it will be really tough for us, but it will be a really good game for people to watch.
“All of our games have been against higher opposition, and this is the case again – but it will be similar to last night. Not many teams will want to face us with our record, so we’ll take that confidence into the game and see how we get on.”
Wood fired in 21 goals for for Shildon last season, but says not many were “bigger” than the pair he bagged on Tuesday. And he is pleased to see his efforts bringing financial reward to a club he holds dear to his heart.
“It’s great for the club, and the money the run is generating for them is fantastic. Hopefully in the next round we can do something similar, get a bit more cash for them.
“It’s another big game, and we’ll be the underdogs again away from home, but anything is possible.”
