- Visitors saw George Langston dismissed early in the match for violent conduct
- 10-man Eastleigh scored a late equalizer in the FA Cup after falling behind the home side in Wales
- It’s about survival! FA Cup replays must continue for the good of English football It all starts
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The Spitfires fought bravely back in the Battle of Britain as 10-strong Eastleigh booked their place in the 4th round draw with a battle match in South Wales on Monday.
Richard Hill’s side looked as if they had been grounded after Jake Taylor put Newport ahead early in the second half, while Eastleigh’s George Langston was sent off for violent conduct in the 37th minute.
But Chris Maguire smashed home a penalty eight minutes from time to take the tie back to Hampshire and keep Eastleigh’s cup dream alive.
“We had to go for it,” Hill said. ‘We lost that match with twenty minutes to go. We were sailing by the seat of our pants, but we were determined, felt a bit disadvantaged and it motivated us.”
This was not the draw either club had hoped for, but with a stake of £105,000 for the winners, both clubs were keen to progress.
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The home side were dominant for most of the first half, but failed to hold a 1-0 lead
Newport County’s James Clarke celebrates his goal during the opening goal of the second half
Eastleigh’s George Langston looks dejected as he leaves the field after being shown a red card
Chris Maguire celebrated leveling the score from the spot, sending the match into replay
It had already been a memorable run for the National League side, who recorded a famous 2-1 win over League 1 Reading in Round 2.
For Newport it was a case of David becoming Goliath, with 18th place in League 2 taking over 11th place in the National League. The South Wales club have a proud cup history as underdogs, the highlight of which came five years ago when they reached the fifth round before being beaten 1-4 by Manchester City, but here they were favorites and 4,966 fans packed into the Rodney Parade. .
“I was really pleased with our performance,” said Newport boss Graham Coughlan.
“We’re still fighting there. We should have left the game alone, but let’s give Eastleigh credit. They were two very good teams that left everything on the field.’
With Eastleigh down a man for the entire second half, they almost took a surprise lead when Maguire hit a post just after half-time.
But when Taylor smashed in Shane McLoughlin’s low corner it looked like Coughlan’s side would certainly make progress.
With Hill throwing in a series of attacking substitutions as the match progressed, Eastleigh were awarded a penalty when Clarke dragged Paul McCallum to the ground.
Maguire stepped up and smashed into the top corner to send the traveling support wild and keep the Eastleigh fairy tale alive.
