Gary Hackett salutes his FA Cup heroes

Stourbridge boss Gary Hackett today hailed his history-makers and insisted they kept the FA Cup magic alive.

The Glassboys pulled off the biggest result in their 135-year history by beating Plymouth 2-0 in their first-round replay last night.

Former Wolves trainee Paul McCone and ex-Manchester United scholar Sean Evans stunned the 10-man Pilgrims who had Paul Bignot sent off in the first half.

The win landed the Glassboys a second round home showdown – for the first time ever – with Stevenage next Saturday. The Southern League Premier Division side are three tiers below League Two Plymouth and Hackett reckons they harnessed the Cup's spirit. "It's amazing. Maybe right at the top end the glory has been taken away but from a non league point of view the FA Cup holds that magic and we showed everyone that," he said.

"I experienced it in 1984 (when he scored in Shrewsbury's 2-0 FA Cup upset over Ipswich) so I am showing my age and it's the most amazing occasion.

"It's why FA Cup runs are magnificent, it's raised the club's profile and the finances are tremendous for us but let's enjoy it, the players deserve that. I always say you get a lot of bad days in football so let's enjoy the good ones."

Read the full story in the Express & Star.