FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round – Excitement and Controversy

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The fourth round of the FA Cup Qualifiers saw 64 clubs across the entirety of the country in action.

The highest scoring matches of the day came with National League North side Gateshead FC beating the Northern Premier League’s Colne FC in a confident 5-0 performance and National League outfit A.F.C. Fylde beating Southern Football League side Peterborough Sports FC 6-1.

Isthmian League’s Potter’s Bar Town secured a fourth round replay against National League side Barnet in empathic fashion. The match had an amazing ten minutes of added time which granted fans with a fantastic 101st minute equaliser from defender Andy Lomas.

Second in the National League, Bromley had a tough battle with 19th place counterparts Aldershot. The match ended 4-3 to Bromley after a high scoring battle which saw The Shots score a late 80th minute consolation goal.

However, the big results seemed to be overshadowed by the harrowing events which took place at the Haringey Borough FC vs Yeovil Town fixture.

Several Yeovil Town fans hurled racial insults towards the Haringey Borough goalkeeper Valery Pajetat alongside his teammate and defender Coby Rowe, sparking a mass walk-off by the home team. It was reported that the Haringey shot stopper was also struck by objects thrown from the stands.

This comes in the wake of the recent game stoppages during the England game after abuse was aimed at Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Tyrone Mings from a sect of Bulgarian ultras in the crowd.

“If we get punished and thrown out, I don’t care. The abuse a few of my players got was disgusting.
Yeovil’s players and manager were different class.

“Their team tried to calm their supporters down, they tried their best and they supported us – they said ‘if you’re walking off we’re walking off with you’.”

– Tom Loizou (Haringey Manager)

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The camaraderie amongst the two teams showed that the issue is one which both saw enough to address, with the match being totally abandoned by the home side in the 64th minute of the game. The events are currently being investigated by the Football Association

“We are deeply concerned about the allegation of discrimination from an area of the crowd towards a player during the FA Cup fourth round qualifying match between Haringey Borough and Yeovil Town, which resulted in the fixture being abandoned.”

“There is no room for discrimination in our game and we are working with the match officials and the relevant authorities, as a matter of urgency, to fully establish the facts and take the appropriate steps.”

– F.A. Spokesperson

It is currently unclear what the next course of action will be.

FA Cup football returns as early as Monday where Stourbridge take on Whitby Town in a replay match following their 1-1 draw earlier today.