Thamesmead Town earned a place in the hat for the Emirates FA Cup third round qualifying draw after holding big-spending Billericay Town to a 1-1 draw at Princes Park on Sunday.
The teams will do it all again on Tuesday night in a second round qualifying replay after Tom O’Connor cancelled out Jake Robinson’s early strike.
With big names such as former Champions League finalist Jermaine Pennant and former Emirates FA Cup finalists Jamie O’Hara and Paul Konchesky on the payroll, Billericay entered the game as favourites and took just four minutes to score the opener – Robinson finding the net with a 25-yard stunner.
However, the Mead battled back as O’Connor’s low shot beat Alan Julian on 25 minutes and, down to ten men after Josh Urquhart was sent off just before the break, Ricay failed to find a winner.
North West Counties Premier Division side 1874 Northwich caused arguably the biggest upset of the round as they defeated National League North side North Ferriby United 1-0 at Barton Stadium.
1874 Northwich, formed in 2012, had never been beyond the preliminary round before this year but Kyle Dixon inadvertently slid a cross into his own net on 63 minutes to give them a narrow win.
Ashton Athletic are also into third round qualifying for the first time in their history after dispatching Albion Sports 4-0.
Josh Nicholson bagged himself a hat-trick and Joel Brownhill also netted as Ashton cruised past the Lions.
The Lions may have been tamed but the Wolves are still in the cup, as FC Romania battled to a 2-2 draw against Hayes & Yeading United. The pair will also play their replay on Tuesday.
And in the day’s other tie, Stourbridge – who made it all the way to the Emirates FA Cup third round proper last year – beat St Ives Town 2-0, thanks to two headers from Leon Broadhurst.
