‘Roy of the Rovers stuff’ for Amond in FA Cup shock
Carlow’s Pádraig Amond held his nerve to put Newport County in the FA Cup fourth round, leaving Leicester boss Claude Puel to defend his team selection.
Amond slotted past Foxes keeper Danny Ward from the penalty spot five minutes from time after Rachid Ghezzal had cancelled out Jamille Matt’s first-half opener.
The much-travelled striker has no fear of the big occasion, having played against Cristiano Ronaldo during his time at Shamrock Rovers and the likes of Radamel Falcao during his spell in Portugal with Pacos de Ferreira. But it was the presence of an old teammate who made yesterday’s task a little more nerve-wracking.
“The experiences I’ve had in big games still help me and they will do so again this weekend,” Amond had said before the game, but afterwards he told BBC One: “It’s a penalty so you’re expected to score. I played with Danny Ward at Morecambe, he faced a few of my penalties in training so I was hoping he wouldn’t remember.
“It’s brilliant to score the winner but just to win is the big one. Everyone’s done brilliantly today and I think we fully deserved it.”
It was County’s first win over a top-flight side since downing Sheffield Wednesday in 1964 and it earned the club £135,000, on top of the £150,000 TV broadcast fee.
"It’s almost Roy of the Rovers stuff, I can’t believe it,” said manager Michael Flynn.
It’s the first time I’ve beaten a Premier League club as a manager so it’s one I’ll never forget.
“It’s huge, it’s massive for the club to be in the fourth round again and to get some much-needed finances. To see the number of supporters out there and produce that for the fans is amazing.
“It actually felt comfortable, even though they’re littered with quality.
“They had a lot of possession, we knew it’d be like that, but we worked hard on our shape. Once they scored it was about hanging on and getting a replay but thankfully the players thought differently. They got the penalty and it was put away by Padraig.
“It was a really good FA Cup game,” added the Exiles boss.
“The atmosphere the fans created, and the substitutions Leicester made as well, it showed us credit and respect.
Leicester are an excellent club and have an excellent manager, so I’m delighted, I’m over the moon. It’s not sunk in yet, I can feel my phone buzzing now and it’s non-stop.
Leicester manager Puel - who was sharply criticised for naming a weakened side when the Foxes suffered a Carabao Cup quarter-final exit to makeshift Manchester City opponents last month — had made seven changes from the side which won at Everton on New Year’s Day.
England internationals Jamie Vardy, Harry Maguire and Ben Chilwell were among those missing, but Puel said: “I think we had a good team with eight who played winning the title with Leicester, and a lot of experienced players and quality on the pitch.
“I think we had enough quality on the pitch to qualify, I don’t want to look for excuses about this.
“I think we lost together, we are all together disappointed and frustrated after this game, because it was an objective for us. This competition was important.”
Amond’s winner came just four minutes after Rachid Ghezzal appeared to have spared Leicester’s blushes with a powerful strike from the edge of the box.
Leicester had trailed from the 10th minute, Jamille Matt heading home Robbie Willmott’s superb cross, and the Foxes passed up several opportunities to equalise before Ghezzal’s strike.
“We had a lot of chances in the first half, second half sometimes without the clinical edge, sometimes unlucky,” Puel said.
“We did the most difficult thing to come back into the game with a goal from Rachid.
“Of course it’s harsh to concede this penalty just at the end. It’s tough.
“A lot of disappointment and frustration, but it’s a cup game and we didn’t find the solution to score more goals.”
Newport, 13th in League Two and 74 places below Leicester on the football pyramid, knocked out Leeds in the third round last season and held Tottenham at home before losing a Wembley replay.
“How they can raise these levels is amazing,” manager Michael Flynn said of players who have not won a league game since the end of November.
“It has to be up there with the best win in our history.
The second half I felt quite comfortable. But once they got back to 1-1 you do worry, can you hang on?
“I said: ‘Let’s go for it’ and we went and got that penalty. I’ve got so much respect for these players.”
Who is Pádraig Amond?
Scoring the winning goal on live television to knock Premier League Leicester City out of the FA Cup has brought Pádraig Amond into the spotlight but he has been an off-Broadway star for more than a decade.
A talented all-round sportsman - Amond also shone at hurling - the Carlow man has enjoyed a solid career since first breaking on to the League of Ireland scene with Shamrock Rovers in 2006, playing across England’s lower leagues, as well as a spell in Portugal’s Primeira Liga.
Amond won promotion to the Premier Division with Rovers in 2006 as a teenager. He also played at now defunct Kildare County before an impressive spell at Sligo Rovers sparked the interest of Portugal’s Pacos de Ferreira.
After a brief stay in Portugal he has played for Accrington, Morecambe, Grimsby, and Hartlepool before joining Newport County.
Last Thursday Newport triggered a clause in his contract to extend his stay until at least the end of the 2019/20 season.
The former Republic of Ireland Under-21 player has scored 31 goals in 88 games so far for the League Two side. “It is great for the football club that Podge has extended his deal,” Newport manager Mike Flynn said.
Not only is he one of the best strikers in the league, but he is also a top professional and I am so glad he is one of ours for another season.
Now aged 30, scoring the winner against the Foxes will be hard to top.
Day, Hornby-Forbes (Pipe 67), Franks, Demetriou, Neufville, Bennett, Dolan (O’Brien 86), Willmott, Amond, Semenyo, Matt (Bakinson 77).
Marsh-Brown, Sheehan, Foulston, Townsend.
Ward, Simpson (Gray 60), Morgan, Evans, Fuchs, Choudhury, James (King 72), Ghezzal, Okazaki (Maddison 46), Albrighton, Iheanacho.
Soyuncu, Ricardo Pereira, Jakupovic, Mendy.
Chris Kavanagh.
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