Stuart Lake recalls Hednesford Town's Riverside roar
It was a day that anyone associated with Hednesford Town would never forget.
A group of non-league part-timers took on a team of internationals and millionaires – and gave them one hell of a fright,
Twenty years ago today the Pitmen faced Middlesbrough in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Fabrizio Ravanelli, Juninho and Emerson faced Joe O'Connor, Colin Lambert, Stuart Lake and Scott Cooksey.
There were 27,511 at the Riverside – and 6,000 Hednesford fans having the time of their life.
The travelling hordes were in dreamland when O'Connor gave them the unlikeliest of leads in the first half. Middlesbrough's Premier League quality eventually shone through and they scored three times, before O'Connor pulled one back late on – and then agonisingly hit the post as the Conference team came within a lick of paint of putting their name in the fifth round hat
It's a game and an occasion that Lake, who still lives in Cannock just a couple of miles from the ground, remembers fondly.
"It certainly doesn't feel that long ago!" he said. "I know it's still talked about a lot and with good reason. We gave a great account of ourselves on the day. I don't think anyone gave us a chance of avoiding getting spanked, let alone a narrow defeat.
"We had a plan on the day, John Baldwin (Hednesford boss) had us well drilled and we stuck to it as best we could.
"We were a bit unfortunate. Joe hit the post really late on. I think a draw would have been a fair result."
The feverish build-up was akin to a cup final for the Pitmen.
So what was it like for midfielder Lake, who was up against Emerson and Robbie Mustoe, to play in?
"It was phenomenal!" he said. "They had a full international line-up. But on the pitch it's just 11 v 11, or one v one.
"We only came up a tiny bit short. Even the Boro fans were maybe shocked at how well we'd done and they gave us a round of applause at the end."
Lake still keeps an eye on Hednesford's results and hopes to see the club return to the upper echelons on the non-league pyramid before long.
Then maybe there'll be a few more days like this to reminisce about.
"I love the FA Cup and it's no important for non league teams.
"The Middlesbrough game is part of the club's history. I still keep in touch with some of the lads and it'd be great to see the club climb the leagues soon."
