FA Cup Second Qualifying Round, Mortgage Decisions Stadium, Saturday 14 September 15.00 BST
What a week it’s been, Terras fans!
First came, in our gaffer’s words, the “relief” of our massive 2-1 away victory in Dorking last weekend, with Calvin Brooks and Jake Scrimshaw giving us a much-needed three points.
Then came an unprecedented hammering from our under-23s, who put seven past Gillingham Town on Wednesday.
Oh, and they kept a clean sheet in the process, too!
Today we have the chance to wrap up a very exciting week in Southampton (well, sort of) as we face Sholing in the second round qualifying of the FA Cup.
Fans won’t need reminding of how special this competition is; even Mark told us this week that there “is no other cup like it.”
As the first round proper lies just three games away, the wonders reaching it would do for our club would be about as magical as the cup itself…
HOW TO FOLLOW
Radio commentary will be provided to fans, as usual, by the ever-brilliant Robert Santonna via our “Radio Terras” website; click HERE to access.
Live updates will also be posted on our social media accounts; footage and reaction will also be uploaded after the final whistle.
CUP COMPETITION CRUSADES
We have a long-standing history with the oldest competition in professional football, having first reached the proper stages nearly 120 years ago.
The enjoyment of that achievement, though, abruptly ended when we were inflicted a 12-1 defeat at the hands of Gainsborough Trinity.
But fortunes would change after both World Wars, when we drew Manchester United in the third round in 1949.
Though we lost 4-0 at Maine Road (Old Trafford was still being rebuilt) it would be a sign for things to come…
13 years later would see us do even better and reach the fourth round and face Preston North End.
Whilst we have yet to reach that milestone in the 62 years since (we were defeated 2-0 at Deepdale), our recent record in cup competitions suggests slight hope.
Hope, as we know, is good; it’s never the thing that kills you as a fan, right?
To start with, our only competitive game at The Mortgage Decisions Stadium, five years ago, ended in a comfortable 3-0 win, in this very round of the FA Cup no less.
Even more impressively, our ability to progress through this round of the competition is worth boasting, with a 76% win rate on display.
This does, though, include replays, but that still counts – we won’t hear otherwise!
Our cup-competition crusades aren’t just on our home patch, either; in 25 ties on the road in all cup games against teams one league below us, we have one 20 with just four losses.
In fact, we have not been on the losing side since 2015, versus Petersfield.
With a proven track record as impressive as this, one would be forgiven to be rather confident ahead of today’s game.
After all, the FA Cup is never known for its upsets…
THE OPPOSITION
With The Boatmen just 17 places below us in English football, this could be our toughest test against them yet.
This comes as no surprise to our gaffer, who says that Sholing boss Paul Doswell “knows his way around non-league football better than anyone.”
Sholing “born and bred,” Doswell was appointed by the Hampshire outfit almost 11 months ago.
The gaffer walked in knowing he “had big shoes to fill,” taking over from Dave Diaper who had steered The Boatmen for 25 years, spanning over 1200 games.
At the time of this change, the club had had a difficult start to the campaign, Diaper winning only one of his final nine league games in charge.
The Boatmen were then able to stop their ship sinking, staying in England’s seventh tier by one point, in 15th place.
Whilst their start to this campaign has been the definition of a mixed bag, an equal number of wins, draws and losses in six games leaves them in 14th-place, they remain just 17 places below us in the football pyramid.
As Mark told us earlier this week, “we have a big challenge ahead [and] if anyone thinks it will be anything other than that, they are in for a rude awakening.”