Havant & Waterlooville earned a standing ovation from
The Kop yesterday after a stunning performance against Premier
League Liverpool. They lost 5-2 but, incredibly, they twice led
their illustrious rivals.
Before the match started Liverpool's fans applauded every Havant
player's name when they were announced, and the non-League club's
fans sang happily along with The Kop anthem You'll Never Walk
Alone.
The Blue Square South league side, sitting 123 places below the
seven-time FA Cup winners, were undaunted by the atmosphere of the
42,000 crowd and they made a dream start when they went ahead in
the eighth minute through former QPR player Richard
Pacquette.
It took 20 minutes for Leiva Lucas to put Liverpool level but the
minnows were not fazed and continued to attack the hosts and, after
31 minutes, an Alfie Potter shot deflected in off Martin Skrtel to
put Havant back in front.
Liverpool's £6.5million defender endured a horrible full-debut
which began with an awful backpass that led to the stunning opening
goal. From the resulting corner, delivered by gas fitter Mo Harkin,
truant officer Richard Pacquette found the entire Liverpool defence
wagging school and stooped to head the ball into the net. The away
fans began singing the song about "que sera, sera" and going to
Wembley, and the home crowd smiled indulgently.
Yossi Benayoun equalised again for Liverpool a minute before the
break and went on to complete his hat-trick in the second half
before Peter Crouch completed the scoring in the last minute.
At the final whistle the Havant players were applauded by all four
sides of the ground and swapped shirts with relieved Liverpool
stars.
Who are Havant & Waterlooville?
Goalkeeper - Kevin Scriven: "Kevin is a builder off the pitch and
works for his dad's company. He used to be on AFC's Bournemouth's
books as a youngster and his best attribute as a keeper is his shot
stopping.
Right-back - Justin Gregory: He's one of the most honest people you
could meet and is fully committed to the cause. Away from football
he's at college training to be a physio."
Centre-half - Jay Smith: "Jay works in planning and is an
ex-Brentford apprentice.
Centre-half - Phil Warner: Away from football he is now a van
driver."
Left-back - Tony Taggart: He works as a binman but used to be an
apprentice at Brentford."
Centre-midfield - Jamie Collins: "Jamie is a primary school teacher
and the captain of the team.
Centre-midfield - work for Brighton and Hove Albion on a scheme
called, 'Albion in the Community'."
Striker - Rocky Baptiste: "Rocky is a Liverpool fan and training to
be a London cabbie.
Striker - Richard Pacquette: "Richard is a school caretaker and the
best way of describing him is to say that he has a lot of junk in
his trunk.
Tom Jordan: "Tom is a personal fitness coach.
Havant & Waterlooville made $300,000 pounds from this
match.
PROUD MANAGER
Havant manager Shaun Gale said he was a proud man.
"You have dreams and beliefs and we came here today and thought we
might get something. We knew the enormity of the task but to be
twice in front at Anfield takes some beating and not too many teams
have done that," he told Sky Sports News.
"It would have been nice to go in 2-1 ahead at halftime but my lads
have been magnificent today and I am proud of them. It has been a
fairytale. It will be a long time before anyone else does anything
like this."
