Newport County earn lucrative Wembley replay after late Harry Kane goal spares Tottenham’s blushes
Newport County 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1: The League Two side were eight minutes from history at Rodney Parade, only for a late Kane goal to take the tie to a replay
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Your support makes all the difference.Newport County were eight minutes from history here at Rodney Parade against Tottenham Hotspur, close enough to see what would have been one of the great upsets in cup history. But Harry Kane intervened and in the end Newport had to make do with a good draw, a proud night and the prospect of a big trip to Wembley next month.
Kane’s equalising tap-in was the only moment here when the 10,000 fans went quiet in this part-terraced ground shared with two rugby clubs. The rest of the evening, in short, was why we still watch the FA Cup.
It is not the best or most prestigious competition any more but nothing else can provide an occasion like this. Newport County, ninth in League Two, battering a shell-shocked Tottenham Hotspur, near enough the best team in the country over the last few years, and nearly beating them.
Tottenham’s February will include a trip to Turin to face Juventus in the Champions League last-16, their reward for beating Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund in the group stage. But that month will now kick off with a tiring home replay against Newport, sandwiched between games against Liverpool and Arsenal. It is a game nobody at Tottenham wanted and which, on this showing, not many of their players deserved.
These FA Cup ties almost never go like this. Nine times out of 10 they are like Manchester United showing up at Yeovil Town, as they did on Friday night, and steam-rolling them. But this was the exception that makes the other nine worthwhile, as Newport bombarded Spurs, who looked punch-drunk and almost unable to defend themselves.
When Newport took the lead through Padraig Amond’s header it was not a fluke or a plot twist but the fair conclusion of a first-half in which they were obviously the better team. Tottenham looked to have done their homework, respected the competition and come here with a team to win the game: three centre-backs, three physical central midfielders and two big men up front.
But none of that mattered when there was such a motivational gulf between the two sides. As Pochettino angrily admitted afterwards, his players lost every 50-50 in that ferocious first half. Newport were swarming all over Spurs and when Joss Labadie beat Eric Dier and pulled the ball back to Frank Nouble on the penalty spot, the skied finish felt like a costly waste.
But the chances kept coming. Labadie had one saved from distance, Scott Bennett looped one over the bar and Robbie Willmot whipped in a free-kick that Michel Vorm had to catch.
Tottenham had one real attack in the first half, and even that came after 30 minutes, when Kane’s shot from Moussa Sissoko’s cross was deflected wide. Newport, in short, were better at this type of game than Spurs were. And it was no surprise when, five minutes before the break, they took the lead. Spurs failed to clear a long through and Willmott clipped a hopeful cross to the far post. Padraig Amond hurled himself at it, Kieran Trippier did not, and Newport were into their gleeful lead.
Facing humiliation, Tottenham needed a half-time re-think. Heung Min Son came on, Spurs went 4-4-2 and Vertonghen started charging forward from left-back. Tottenham were getting the ball in the box, which is a start, but Newport had already been doing that all afternoon. Kane should have equalised when Kieran Trippier picked him out with a brilliant cross, but from close range he headed over the bar.
Still Spurs needed more and so Llorente, who had contributed very little, was taken off for Dele Alli. With his first touch, Alli laid it up to Son, whose low show was turned away by the right leg of Joe Day. It was Spurs’ first shot on target all night, with 24 minutes left.
Everything was set up for a siege finish but what was so frustrating for Newport is that they let the win slip to such a soft goal, the only real mistake they made all evening. David Pipe cleared an Eric Dier shot behind for a corner. Trippier curled it in from the right, Son brilliantly flicked it on at the near post, and there was Kane, of course, to tap in. By the end Newport’s tired players were hanging on, desperate to secure the draw and the big-money replay.
But the crowd soon recovered from the pain of missing out on victory, history and a place in the fifth round. All of that will be up for grabs the week after next, of course. Not many will bet on them winning at Wembley but then not many would have expected them to play this well here, or Spurs to play this badly.
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