Non-league club Luton Town clinched passage into the Fifth Round of English FA Cup after beating Norwich City 1-0.
Luton Town became the first non-league team to knock out a Premier League opposition after the erstwhile Division One has been renamed as Premier League.
The enormity of the task achieved by Luton can be encapsulated in these facts:
They are the seventh non-league team to reach 5th round of an FA Cup competition after the World War II. They are the first non-league side to reach the 5th round after 24 years, when Sutton won against Coventry in 1989. At that time, Liverpool were top dogs in England, Manchester United had not won a league title in 22 years running, and Hillsbourgh were just waiting for miracles to happen.
The Hatters, as they are lovingly called by their fans, produced a gritty display at the Carrow road, thwarting the Canaries attack with a rigid 4-4-2 formation, never allowing them to have a clear goal scoring chance. In one of their rare forays into the Norwich half, a winger JJ O’Donnell cross found Scott Rendell's position at the near post with neat precision.
His near post header beat the Norwich defence much to the joy of the 4,000 travelling supporters, who came to watch their team with a belief that they will provide them some moments of ecstasy like this one.
What followed this glorious goal was history in making. Luton Town continued to defend like they did for the first 80 minutes, moving closer to this historic win minute by minute.
Many teams would have been shocked when they go from a position where they had nothing to lose, to one where they have everything to gain. However, the Hatters kept their proverbial sensible hat still on their heads as they went to record one of the biggest upsets in the history of FA Cup.
The enormity of the task achieved by Luton can be encapsulated in these facts:
They are the seventh non-league team to reach 5th round of an FA Cup competition after the World War II. They are the first non-league side to reach the 5th round after 24 years, when Sutton won against Coventry in 1989. At that time, Liverpool were top dogs in England, Manchester United had not won a league title in 22 years running, and Hillsbourgh were just waiting for miracles to happen.
The Hatters, as they are lovingly called by their fans, produced a gritty display at the Carrow road, thwarting the Canaries attack with a rigid 4-4-2 formation, never allowing them to have a clear goal scoring chance. In one of their rare forays into the Norwich half, a winger JJ O’Donnell cross found Scott Rendell's position at the near post with neat precision.
His near post header beat the Norwich defence much to the joy of the 4,000 travelling supporters, who came to watch their team with a belief that they will provide them some moments of ecstasy like this one.
What followed this glorious goal was history in making. Luton Town continued to defend like they did for the first 80 minutes, moving closer to this historic win minute by minute.
Many teams would have been shocked when they go from a position where they had nothing to lose, to one where they have everything to gain. However, the Hatters kept their proverbial sensible hat still on their heads as they went to record one of the biggest upsets in the history of FA Cup.
