HYTHE HEROES: Porter: Shocks happen in the FA Cup - why can't it be us?

Wednesday 03rd November 2010

HYTHE TOWN braveheart Lee Winfield felt his miss-timed tackle on Scott Taylor was going to cost him his place at Hereford United on Saturday, says his manager Scott Porter, writes Stephen McCartney.

The Kent League heroes stunned Blue Square Bet South side Staines Town - a club with a weekly playing budget of £6,000 - thanks to goals from Gary Mickelborough and skipper Dave Cook in the Fourth Qualifying Round two weeks ago.

But Winfield’s tackle on the Staines substitute inside stoppage time blotted Hythe’s copybook - and the long-serving midfielder thought his First Round dream was shattered.

After the game, Folkestone Invicta secretary Neil Pilcher confirmed to www.kentishfootball.co.uk that Kent League suspensions don’t kick in until three weeks after the offence - it’s fourteen days in the Ryman League - so Winfield can take to the field at Edgar Street to add steel, pride and passion to the Hythe side on Saturday.

“Lee Winfield’s ban doesn’t come in until the following week, so he’ll be fine,” added Porter.

“He was a very worried man after the Staines game and it followed him on Sunday as he was a bit down because he didn’t really know the full story, but we made it clear on Monday that he wouldn’t miss it.

“It’s great because he’s been at the club the longest. He’s one of my closest friends as well so it would have been very disappointing if he did miss it because he’s a good lad and he’s a great to the football club as well.”

One other good piece of news is that nine-goal striker Brendon Cass has been training, having sustained a broken nose early on against Staines - and Porter calls on the experience of the striker - and 34-year-old central defender Lee Shearer on Saturday.

Porter, 31, said: “We’ve still got a young side, Lee Shearer is older than me so that says it all, but we’ve brought Shearer in because we needed the experience. We’ve brought Brendon in because of the experience and goalscoring and we’ve kept the likes of Dave Cook, Pat Kingwell, Lee Winfield, Gary Mickelborough.

“We’ve pulled these players in to get a bond and I think everyone’s glad they have all stayed and signed as well because what we’ve got at the football club is a lot of togetherness. We all work hard, we have 20 people at every training session every week and that shows the right direction we’re going.”

It’s unbelievable that a Kent League side are travelling to a League Two side in the First Round of the FA Cup - well it hasn’t happened for 53 years and Hythe are more than capable of pulling off a giant-killing.

Porter said: “Look at what we’ve achieved at this standard of football. We are grass roots, we pay money but nowhere near as much as the players we are playing on Saturday and their wage bill.

“It’s just a credit to everyone at the football club. You know as much as I know, the people down at Hythe work their socks off. We don’t owe people any money, we pay the wages every week, they’re a hard working bunch. They’ve got a good set-up and obviously the players we bring in know that and I tell that to the players’ every time I sign a player.

“This year the players’ just got stronger and better and they’re a credit to the football club and to themselves.”

Porter admitted he is suffering from sleepless nights as FA Cup fever grips everybody at the club.

“It’s just been a mad month since beating Concord (in the third qualifying round). It’s just been better and better and like I said to the lads we don’t want this to end so we would be doing our best to keep this dream going.

“I haven’t been sleeping to be honest with you, the same as a lot of the lads and Clive (Cook, my assistant manager) as well.

“You’re human beings, you dream about things and a lot of things go around in your head and they are still are now and it has been going on since the Staines game.

“My missus is getting fed up with me turning on the telly at 3 o’clock in the morning because I can’t go to sleep. That’s just the excitement that we’ve caused at the club and the achievement we’ve done.”

Believe and it will happen. Hythe Town are going to cause the biggest ever FA Cup upset on Saturday!

It’s written in the stars. Hereford have not won at home all season so it will either be a goal-less draw or Hythe Town will claim a famous 1-0 victory and will go down in FA Cup folklore.

Porter said: “Like the bloke from The Sun newspaper said, he said ‘trust me Scot if you win this game turn your phone off and go on holiday because it will be absolutely mayhem, bedlam’.

“There’s no reason why we can’t! You see shocks time and time again. I’ve watched the FA Cup as a boy since I was five years of age. I’ve been involved in football and you’ve been watching football and everything and it can happen. It’s not like it’s never happened before - it can happen and why can’t it happen to us?

“That’s what I keep saying to myself, why can’t it be us? Why can’t we be the people who celebrate in front of the telly and things like that!”

www.kentishfootball.co.uk will be covering this game.

Visit Hythe Town’s website: www.hythetownfc.co.uk

Hereford United v Hythe Town

FA Cup (Sponsored by E.ON) First Round

Saturday 6th November 2010

Kick Off 3:00pm

At Edgar Street, Hereford, Herefordshire HR4 9JU