Boss Neil Young so proud as eighth tier Marine keep their FA Cup flame burning

Posted Monday, November 30, 2020 by PA

Boss Neil Young hailed his heroic players as eighth tier Marine reached the FA Cup third round for the first time in 28 years with a 1-0 win over Havant and Waterlooville.

Skipper Niall Cummins; was the hero for the Northern Premier League North West side with a goal in the closing stages of extra time.

Young, whose side dumped out League Two Colchester in the first round, said: “This is one of the biggest days in the history of the whole football club.

“With the (Covid-19) pandemic it has been terrible for everyone this year, but it has had a really negative effect on non-league football.

“But I thought we were excellent throughout the game. We could have made better choices at times, but their goalkeeper made some good saves.

“I might not sound it from the outside, but inside I am absolutely delighted.

“We work very hard between me and the staff. We have brought together a good group of players who want to work hard and do well. They have all got the same work ethic.”

Matchwinner Cummins joked: “I’m not going to lie, I closed my eyes and it (the ball) hit me in the shoulder, or my back (for the goal).

“It is a dream come true for everyone. It was a tremendous effort and it’ll live long in the memory.”

Defeat was tough to take for Havant and Waterlooville manager Paul Doswell, although he was keen to take a positive from the second round exit.

The National League South team’s manager said: “For my players this is massively disappointing.

“For me, though, it makes my job potentially easier trying to get the team promoted this season.

“I predicted a 1-0 result before the game, whether that was for us or them, it was always going to be a tight game.”

Doswell’s team had Anthony Straker sent off in the 88th minute and the manager added: “I think that when we went down to 10 men it was our best period of the game. We matched Marine, which we didn’t do in the rest of the game.

“But I thought they were sharper, pretty much all over the pitch. They created three or four good chances in the game, as opposed to our one or two.”