Pride of place went to Ryman Premier club Slough Town who dumped Walsall of League One out by a 2-1 margin. Goals from Ian Hodges and Glen Harris proved to be decisive with Darren Wrack replying for Paul Merson's Saddlers. The visitors had Julian Bennett sent off late on to complete their misery. The result puts Merson under considerable pressure and the former Arsenal and England forward admitted afterwards he might not be in a job by this time next week. Joining Slough in the Second Round draw today are Southern League minnows Histon who reached their furthest point in the competition by eliminating struggling League Two outfit Shrewsbury Town 2-0. The managerless Shrews are expected to appoint former Preston and Exeter boss Gary Peters next week and he'll have a lot on his plate after this result, that was set up by Ian Cambridge's first half strike. African Charles Liban, the closest friend of Arsenal's Kolo Toure, scored a dramatic clincher in the last minute to send the Cambridgeshire side through. Conference North club Hinckley United earned more plaudits as they knocked out Torquay, three rungs above them in the league ladder by a 2-0 margin. The Knitters went ahead through Richard Lavery before the break and a second goal from Neil Cartwright sewed things up 11 minutes from time. Two Conference clubs gained notable scalps too. Halifax eliminated Cambridge United by a 3-1 margin at The Shay. The result was rarely in doubt as Town continued their recent impressive run of form. Martin Foster, Craig Midgeley and Neil Ross were the scorers for Chris Wilder's men. Exeter also knocked out higher league opposition, toppling Grimsby 1-0 at St James Park. Brazilian Santos Gaia claimed the only goal early on to give Alex Inglethorpe his most impressive victory to date since taking over as Grecians manager last month. Struggling Forest Green Rovers earned a replay at home to League One Bournemouth with a battling display. Steve Fletcher put the in-form South Coasters a goal to the good but recent signing Jefferson Louis, formerly of Oxford United, grabbed the all-important equaliser to earn the Gloucestershire side a replay on Tuesday week. Carlisle could be favourites to knock out Bristol Rovers after Brendan McGill's 79th-minute equaliser brought them a 1-1 draw at the Memorial Ground and a replay at Brunton Park. A minute earlier Richard Walker had fired the home side into a scarcely-deserved lead. Conference North side Alfreton Town shocked Macclesfield with a last minute Mark Sale goal to earn a replay at Moss Rose. Earlier the Silkmen had gone ahead through Danny Whittaker, just five minutes from the end. Mick Goddard shot inches wide in added time as Alfreton came close to snatching a dramatic victory. There was no fairy story for Coalville Town, the Midland Alliance side who had battled through six rounds of the competition to reach the First Round Proper for the first time. They finally came unstuck at League Two Wycombe Wanderers when Roger Johnson headed the Chairboys through to Round Two with a goal 20 minues from time at Adams Park. Wycombe parted company with their manager of just over a year, ex-England legend Tony Adams, earlier in the week. Hornchurch's Cup dream faded in the second half at Boston after the financially destitute Conference South leaders earned a shock lead through veteran Steve Castle. The Urchins waved goodbye to most of their senior squad last week when backers the Carthium Group went bust. A mostly reserve and youth-based side clung to the lead until the 48th minute when Boston equalised through Lee Thompson. A minute later Tam McManus put the home side ahead and from there, they never looked back, running out 5-2 winners. Vauxhall Motors suffered a similar result at Bury. The Shakers shook them in the first half, going in four goals to the good, thanks to strikes from Mattis (2), Porter and Challinor. Although McDermott and O'Donnell pulled two back in the second half, a fifth goal courtesy of Nugent was enough to seal the result for the home team. The big shock amongst all-non league clashes was Bath City's 2-1 win away at Conference pace-setters Barnet. The Southern Premier League side might have been happy enough with a replay after Scott Partridge levelled Liam Hatch's goal on 65 minutes. But Partridge wasn't finished there and netted a sensational injury time winner to take Bath through. |
