FA Cup: Blyth Spartans aim to end Allardyce's honeymoon period at Blackburn
The FA Cup has produced a number of shocks this weekend, but if Blyth Spartans were to dump Sam Allardyce’s Blackburn Rovers out of the cup on Monday then that would surely eclipse them all.
And if the Blue Square Conference North side needed any incentive to beat the boys from Ewood Park then the prospect of a fourth round clash at the Stadium of Light should spur them on even more.
Ged Dalton was the hero for the Spartans in the last round when his late winner sent 10-men League Two side Bournemouth packing, but can the boys from Croft Park top that by claiming the scalp of a Premier League side? Spartans fan Martin Hunter, 31, wouldn’t exactly put his house on it but, as we have seen time and time again in the cup, he believes anything can happen.
“If I am being honest, I’m not very confident,” said Martin. “We will need to keep it tight for as long as possible and then if they start to panic you never know. Sutton United were the last non-league side to beat a top flight club and a Premier League side has never been beaten by a non-league side so the task ahead of us is enormous. But then again David did beat Goliath . . .”
Since beating Bournemouth, Blyth Spartans have not been in the best of form. They’ve lost all three league games and failed to score a single goal. Blackburn Rovers, meanwhile, have been totally transformed under Sam Allardyce. They are unbeaten in their last three games, have kept two clean sheets and scored five in the process.
However, Blyth Spartans manager Harry Dunn will be encouraged by the news that Blackburn will be without Roque Santa Cruz, David Dunn and the suspended pair Ryan Nelsen and Andre Ooijer for the third round clash. Martin, who thought the Spartans’ cup win over Shrewsbury Town this season was one of their best performances ever, thinks Allardyce will bring a weakened squad to Croft Park, but is convinced that although the Premiership side may still have the “better” players they may not necessarily have the heart for the battle.
“I would be surprised if Big Sam played the full strength team against us. I know that when he was at Bolton Wanderers he played under strength sides in the cup, as Premier League survival was more important than cup success and he was never in as poor a position as Blackburn are now so I would imagine we'll get the reserves with a strong bench.
“Roque Santa Cruz was the player everyone wanted to see, but I dare say he won't be in Blyth on Monday. Regardless of who they put out, we face a massive task as they going to be technically more gifted than our boys and no doubt much fitter, but the only question will be their attitude to the game. One thing they won't have is more heart than the Spartans players!”
When the draw for the third round was made Blackburn Rovers were struggling in the Premiership under Paul Ince and many people feared that they would be a victim of a giant killing. However, the Blackburn board decided to cut their losses with Ince and installed former Newcastle United boss Sam Allardyce as manager, boosting their hopes for a fourth round slot. But Allardyce is guaranteed a hot reception from the north east fans.
“Quite a lot of the lads who go to the games are also Newcastle United fans, so I think Big Sam will do them just fine,” said Martin. “We have an area in the main stand which they call the 'swamp', they see one of their main roles as winding up the away dug out, so I am confident that Sam will remember Blyth Spartans, regardless of the result.”
Croft Park will be light years away from the facilities that the Blackburn Rovers stars will be used to and Martin hopes that the tight, bobbly pitch will be a real leveller.
“It will certainly be a different experience for them,” he said. “The dressing rooms are tiny, the pitch is poor and the crowd is literally within touching distance of the pitch, so hopefully some of the Blackburn team will find this not to their liking.”
Blyth Spartans have a proud history in the FA Cup. Bournemouth became their 10th league scalp in the competition and this year’s run has evoked memories of the club’s greatest ever achievement when they reached the fifth round back in 1978. More than 42,000 fans turned out to watch them as they narrowly lost to Wrexham at St James’ Park in a replay. Unfortunately for the club’s board, the attendance at Croft Park on Monday night will be significantly less than that, but Martin is hopeful that the fans will make up for it in noise and help create this generation’s own bit of history.
“I would hope that the atmosphere at Croft Park will be something like a 'Northumbrian Galatasaray'! It will certainly be white hot. It may never happen to us again so you have to breathe in every minute of it that you can. These are indeed halcyon days for us.”
But why is it that Blyth Spartans can produce the goods for the FA Cup yet struggle in the league? Martin insists that the greatest cup competition in the world simply brings the best out of the players.
“In fairness we seem to have not concentrated on the league since the first round of the cup. Players have been rested and formations changed to give the players their chance to play in this once in a life time run of games. We have even drafted in a couple of players who can't play in the cup run so that they can play in the league games.
“The cup does bring out the best in the players. A couple of the lads who have been the stars of the run don't look up to the standard of the Blue Square North and are probably going to get moved on after the run has ended, but in the cup games have played way above themselves.
“The FA Cup means everything to us. The whole town is buzzing. Christmas and New Year have just been the warm ups to January 5. Everyone in the town is wearing Spartans scarves and people are chanting Spartans songs in the pubs. If I had a pound for everyone who has asked me to try and get them a ticket, I would have made as much from the cup run as the Spartans themselves!”
Ged Dalton’s winner against Bournemouth last month sent Croft Park into raptures - scenes that Martin Hunter will never forget.
“It was ridiculous. I don't know how, but I knew as soon as Wrighty picked up the ball and did his step over that we were going to score and when it went it the whole place just erupted everyone was jumping on each other and there was people crying. It took me about 40 minutes at the final whistle to get to the club house and the scenes in there were even more surreal. Then when Ged came in carrying his MOTM champagne the whole place went off again!”
So who has the potential to be the hero this time round? Martin thinks that their own Steven Gerrard could steal the show.
“The good thing about the run so far is that all of the players have had their stand out moments. The keeper (Mark Bell) will need to be at his best as will Cheeks (Captain Gareth Williams) and Pell at the back.
“If one lad is going to do it for us though I would put my money on Tadge (Chris McCabe,) who is our equivalent of Steven Gerrard. He was suspended for the Bournemouth replay and will be keen to get in on the action. If we can get a free kick in a dangerous shooting position don't rule out a Cheeks free kick with his new custom FA Cup boots.”
Blackburn Rovers were dumped out of the FA Cup at this stage last season by Coventry City and will be desperate to avoid being humiliated again. But Blyth Spartans have nothing to lose and a fourth round clash with their north east rivals Sunderland to gain. Harry Dunn’s men have been magic in the cup so far. Who, apart from Blackburn Rovers, would deny them a visit to the Stadium of Light in the fourth round?
