FA CUP CRACKER AT GOSLING SPORTS PARK

MATCH PLAYED ON TUESDAY 20th SEPTEMBER
The lure and the magic of the FA Cup drew the cold end into the Gosling Sports Park in Welwyn Garden City on Tuesday night.  Hatfield Town currently call in home and they welcomed Zamaretto Central Division Barton Rovers for a First Qualifying Round Reply as the first match at Barton’s Sharpenhoe Road ground had been drawn 1-1 on Saturday.

For The Blue Boys, as Hatfield are known, it was a chance to cause a ‘giant killing’ as their visitors play at Step 4 of the non-league pyramid as opposed to the Spartan South Midlands Premier Division at Step 5 for the home side.

What a cracking cup tie it turned out to be with Barton hitting the post and missing a golden opportunity to score within the opening 30 seconds.  

If you are reading this and don’t know the result the cold end can tell you there were three well taken goals in the game with the second (from 1min 46secs on the video) the pick of the bunch.  I can safely say that if this goal was scored by an Arsenal, Chelsea or Manchester United it would of been purred about by many a commentator and pundit.

Check out the match highlights below. A great advert for non-league football and the FA Cup which is not just all about the later rounds when the big boys enter.

Although this was only the First Qualifying Round of the competition it was Hatfield's sixth game already -

EXTRA PRELIMINARY ROUND - SAWBRIDGEWORTH TOWN 2-2 & 2-1
PRELIMINARY ROUND - ENFIELD 1893 1-1 & 1-2 AET
FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND - BARTON ROVERS 1-1 & ???

Manchester City only took eight games to win the FA Cup last season. It could of been only six as they had two replays against Leicester City and Notts County.