FA Cup: County win at Wigan
Reuters - Tuesday 02 February 2010, 23:01
LONDON - Notts County produced an FA Cup
replay shock with a 2-0 win at Premier League Wigan Athletic on
Tuesday to earn a place in the fifth round.
The League Two side bridged a gap of 59
positions in English football's standings to stun Wigan with a
Stephen Hunt header and an own goal by Gary Caldwell - both
goals coming in three minutes in the second half.
Another fourth round replay also produced a shock with
Championship Crystal Palace, who were recently
plunged into a relegation dogfight after a 10-point deduction
for going into administration, ousted top flight Wolverhampton
Wanderers 3-1 at Selhurst Park.
Danny Butterfield netted a second-half hat-trick for Palace
who will take on Aston Villa for a place in the quarter-finals.
"We are fighting together and we showed people around the
country tonight that we are far from dead," Palace manager Neil
Warnock told ITV Sport.
Notts County, who last week secured investment to ward off
administration after they were issued with a High Court winding
up order, will get another crack at Premier League opposition in
the fifth round against Fulham.
County began the season with lofty ambitions after former
England manager Sven Goran Eriksson became director of football
but hopes of a rapid rise through the divisions after the club's
takeover by a Middle East consortium have petered out.
Off-field financial concerns - the owners who appointed
Eriksson have left the club - and the departure of two managers
as well as the ill-fated signing of former England defender Sol
Campbell have made it a chaotic season at Meadow Lane but a
first FA Cup victory over a top flight side since 1991 is a
welcome boost.
Hunt put the visitors ahead with 15 minutes remaining,
heading in a corner, before Caldwell sealed Wigan's fate when he
headed into his own net while attempting a clearance.