Linnets’ foes produce some FA Cup magic

Mark Hearle looks at the fortunes of a few old foes of the Linnets in the FA Cup in his weekly column.It’s been a good weekend for non-league teams in the first round proper of the FA Cup with a few old foes of the Linnets doing extremely well to progress to the second round of the competition, meaning they are now only 90 minutes away from the chance of hooking a big fish from the Premier League in the new year.Among those making their way through were Tamworth, which beat league opposition Huddersfield Town, and Kettering Town, which defeated local rivals Northampton Town 2-1 on the Championship team’s home soil.I’ve mentioned many times in this column the importance of the FA Cup to non-league football in terms of the monies they can earn if they embark upon a winning run that creates a David V Goliath battle.Unfortunately, this season another way of earning extra money, namely replays, has been taken away in a new ruling by the Football Association.The main reason cited by the governing body of English football for the decision was the ‘extra demands’ placed upon the big Premier League sides with the increase in the size of the European competitions that many are involved in.Whilst I do understand the Premier League’s thinking (and I do feel that the top players play far too much football) surely replays could have been kept in place for the first two rounds proper as I haven’t seen the likes of, say Cambridge and Peterborough United hosting the likes of Barcelona recently. A non-league team bringing a league side back to their own patch for a replay under the lights on a midweek evening was always seen as almost a win in non-league views, thus giving them another bite of the cherry both on and off of the pitch. These kinds of occasions can sometimes really be the difference between clubs being able to exist for seasons to come.There are always many moans from well-respected administrators that still not enough money finds its way down to the bowels of the football world and the banishing of the cup replay does not help the concerning situation that still continues despite so many attempts to rectify the situation.I read recently that there are strong possibilities shortly that each Premier League club will play one match a season in America as part of plans to continue to build the worldwide product that is the league itself. I am a fan of the Premier League and have been lucky enough down the years to experience some amazing games and see the world’s top players in action.However, I do feel that those in charge of the league do sometimes seem to forget where the roots of all of their member’s club’s are as they chase the millions available to them to promote their product to an even bigger audience whilst many of those at grassroots level continue to pray for mere survival from year to year. Be it a European tie in a plush stadium or the ‘muck and nettles’ of a cup replay being played in front of a thousand or so fans it’s all football there should be no disparity, the colour of the money is just the same.Lynn’s unbeaten streak in National League North came to an end at the weekend with the 2-1 loss at Chorley. Two first-half goals downed the Linnets with Gold Omotayo’s late strike, deep into injury time, providing a mere consolation for those who had made the second long trip of the week to support their team.I fully expect Chorley to be in or around the mix at the top of the league throughout the season and the Linnets shouldn’t feel down about the loss for too long.Previous to that game last weekend the team had journeyed to the North East and Spennymoor where they secured a superb 2-1 win, coming from behind in the process.I spoke with a seasoned Linnets supporter who told me he thought that a return of a couple of points from the two games would have been a very good achievement, so to gain three was, to him, somewhat of a bonus. It’s hard to disagree with his thoughts and when you take into consideration varying factors all connected with two long away trips in five days.This considered approach to this season that most Town supporters appear to hold is one that is held by manager Adam Lakeland who has, to date, kept a firm lid on those whose thoughts may be jumping ahead at a rate that is far too quick for the project he is overseeing.The familiar ‘one game at a time ‘ psychology may be boring to those wanting instant success but. for me, the sure and steady approach is the correct way to go which allows the bumps in the road that will come along can be managed just that bit easier.Farsley Celtic were the scheduled Walks visitors on Tuesday evening before the Lynn squad hit the road again with another long North East trip, this time to South Shields, looming this weekend.Finally today, from me, congratulations to Lynn’s Under 23s side who made it through to the Norfolk Senior Cup quarter-finals after a fine 4-0 win over Easton last week.