TAMWORTH, England (Reuters) – Premier League Tottenham Hotspur needed extra time to beat brave fifth-tier Tamworth, 96 places below them in the English football pyramid, 3-0 in the FA Cup third round on Sunday.
The game had the makings of a huge upset from the opening whistle as Tamworth more than held their own but the team of part-time players tired and were unable to secure one of the biggest shocks in the competition’s history.
“We should be proud, we took a top-six team to extra time,” Tamworth goalkeeper Jas Singh, whose day job is as a building surveyor, told ITV. “We had chances as well, that’s the frustrating bit.”
After a goalless 90 minutes, Nathan Tshikuna’s own goal in the 101st minute put Spurs ahead after Brennan Johnson had fired a low cross into the area.
Substitute Dejan Kulusevski doubled the lead when he latched onto a pass from Son Heung-min to shoot across Singh and Johnson added a late third.
“Disappointed because we were that close to causing a massive upset, but equally be massively proud,” Tamworth manager Andy Peaks said. “Everyone put a shift in and when you look at the team we were up against, it was unbelievable from our boys. I am so proud of them.”
Tamworth gave their fans at a rocking Lamb Ground plenty to cheer when Beck-Ray Enoru — who works as a shop clerk — forced Spurs keeper Antonin Kinsky to make a diving save in the opening minute.
Before kickoff, Enoru had climbed on a teammate’s shoulders to repair a gap in the net with a roll of tape as Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou watched on chuckling.
Tamworth’s Tom Tonks, renowned for his long throw-ins, sent one clattering off Spurs’ far post in the early minutes.
Tom McGlinchey and Jordan Cullinane-Liburd had excellent chances to notch a late winner for the home side which had Peaks — who quit his day job as support worker to become full-time manager ahead of Sunday’s game — holding his head in disbelief.
Singh, whose partner had given birth to a baby boy the previous evening, was excellent in goal, turning away several Spurs shots including a couple from James Maddison.
“Credit to Tamworth, they made it hard for us,” Postecoglou said. “With the (artificial) surface, it was always going to be a matter of us staying calm, being persistent in our football. We needed a goal. Their keeper pulled off a couple of good saves.
“We had a couple of chances we should’ve done better with but in the end we got the job done.”
(Reporting by Lori Ewing, editing by Ed Osmond)
