The corrugated iron roof in the main stand rattled – and felt like it would come off – as Newport County knocked Leicester City out of the FA Cup.
This was a classic third-round tie; a tie to remember; a tie that resonated like that old stand that shook, that rattled, that rolled. Newport, 13th in League Two, 74 places below their Premier League opponents, were brave, bold and quite brilliant and went through with a late penalty to make it even more dramatic, even more memorable, even more raucous.
Changes in kick-off times, in team line-ups, in priorities have all again affected the FA Cup, but this was a tie as good as any in the competition’s rich 148-year history. No one inside Rodney Parade, the second oldest ground in the Football League after Preston’s Deepdale, will forget it.
It all went wrong for Leicester once the teamsheets were delivered – not just because Christian Fuchs’ surname was spelt incorrectly, with the “h” replaced with a “k” in what Newport insisted was a genuine mistake rather than a piece of mischief, so it was not for public consumption. Certainly Leicester were left cursing afterwards.
That teamsheet will also provoke much debate among Leicester’s supporters, and despite beating Manchester City, Chelsea and Everton recently in the league, this result will add to the questions being asked about manager Claude Puel.
He made seven changes and did not even include Jamie Vardy in his squad. After wholesale alterations against City in the unsuccessful Carabao Cup quarter-final, this was another opportunity spurned for a club who sit seventh in the Premier League in no danger of going down or, conversely, going any higher.
Puel was defiant, claiming that eight of his team had won the Premier League – but none of that should detract from Newport.
There was nothing fortunate about this result. They took the game to Leicester from the start, played with a stunning positivity, defended bravely – and then had the belief and reserves of energy to go again after Leicester’s equaliser.
Leicester scored in the 82nd minute – just as Tottenham Hotspur did in the fourth round last season, through Harry Kane, before beating Newport in the replay. Then Kane cancelled out a goal by Padraig Amond, and in a delicious twist for Newport, it was the Irish forward who went on to score the penalty that won this tie.
“I was more nervous taking a penalty against Forest Green a few weeks ago,” Amond later said. “What an opportunity to put the club’s name up in lights, to knock out the Premier League champions. This is our chance to be giant-killers. Just make sure you do it.”
He did. And so did Newport. This will be one of the greatest results in their history, maybe the greatest, and the first time they have beaten a top-flight side since defeating Sheffield Wednesday in 1964. It felt all the more deserved after Newport had gone bust, reformed and fought their way back.
They set the tone from the start – and scored early. It was a magnificent goal and came with Robbie Willmott tearing past Fuchs and crossing for Jamille Matt to rise above Wes Morgan and guide a header that struck goalkeeper Danny Ward’s right-hand post on its way in.
The fans were already straining every sinew just as Matt, a 29-year-old Jamaican striker who has spent his career in the lower leagues, had done in scoring his first goal in eight games.
Newport were unrelenting, and their fans rose to give the players a standing ovation after an injury caused a break in play, and they roared them off at half-time.
Maybe, even before that goal, had come the tie’s pivotal moment as Newport goalkeeper Joe Day saved sharply from Rachid Ghezzal with Shinji Okazaki then spurning two good chances. For the first, he headed wide from a corner and after being teed up by Fuchs, his goal-bound shot struck defender Mickey Demetriou in the stomach.
Puel had seen enough and withdrew Okazaki – he should also have taken off the equally ineffective Kelechi Iheanacho but did not have Vardy on the bench. On came James Maddison, and he made a difference, gaining control as Newport’s ferocity inevitably subsided. It would have been impossible to maintain.
Leicester went close. Marc Albrighton cut in from the left, and his shot was deflected to beat Day only to crash back off the crossbar before Iheanacho went close with a volley across the face of goal.
The pressure grew. Fraser Franks superbly blocked a Maddison shot before, finally, after another scramble and another Maddison effort, the ball was cleared to just outside the area. Ghezzal met it with a powerful, first-time rising shot to draw Leicester level.
Incredibly, Newport hit back. They poured forward, and 18-year-old Vashon Neufville, on loan from West Ham, and making his debut, crossed with Albrighton inexplicably raising his left arm. The ball struck it, and referee Chris Kavanagh had no hesitation in giving the penalty that Amond nervelessly stroked past Ward to, as he promised, put Newport’s name up in lights – and almost lift the roof.
Match details
Newport County (4-4-1-1): Day, Forbes (Pipe, 67), Franks, Demetriou, Neufville, Willmott, Bennett, Dolan (O’Brien, 86), Semenyou, Amond, Matt (Bakinson, 77).
Substitutes not used: Townsend (gk), Marsh-Brown, Sheehan, Foulston.
Leicester City (4-2-3-1): Ward, Fuchs, Evans, Morgan, Simpson (Gray, 59), James (King, 72), Choudhury, Albrighton, Okazaki (Maddison, 46), Ghezzal, Iheanacho.
Substitutes not used: Jakupovic (gk), Soyuncu, Pereira, Mendy.
Booked: Okazaki.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh.
Attendance: 6,705.