NEWPORT County will hunt a major FA Cup upset against Manchester United after avoiding a minor upset at Eastleigh.
The Exiles will host the Red Devils at Rodney Parade on Sunday, January 28 (kick-off 4.30pm) after winning 3-1 against their National League hosts at Silverlake Stadium.
County made a dream start to hit the front through midfielder Aaron Wildig after his calm finish in the third minute.
They bossed the first half but failed to add to their lead, something that cost them at Rodney Parade.
History repeated in the 48th minute when Paul McCallum smashed in his 26th of the season for the Spitfires.
The Exiles responded and James Clarke, who should have scored the winner in Newport, headed them 2-1 up on the hour.
They needed a buffer and it came with 12 minutes to go when Will Evans scored his 18th of a remarkable campaign, and arguably the most important, with a fierce drive.
That proved to be enough for County, 17th in League Two, to avoid an upset against Eastleigh, 11th in the National League.
There was no pitch invasion and the celebrations were all from those in black and amber in a small pocket of the ground, the regulars who deserve to be treated to another Premier League big gun in their city.
There was £105,000 in prize money for the winners, a £110,000 fee for the United game being shown live on BBC One and gate receipts to play for.
Michael Flynn’s cup exploits helped keep the Trust-owned club afloat in the Football League, Graham Coughlan’s will give a massive lift for the new era under former Swansea chairman Huw Jenkins.
However, for the players it was the prestige of going up against Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford, Lisandro Martinez.
Coughlan urged his players to play the game and not the potential occasion. Easier said than done.
The manager made three changes to the side that started in the 1-0 win at Doncaster, one of them enforced with Matt Baker absent after a blow to his ankle led to the Wales Under-21s defender limping off in Yorkshire.
Match winner Seb Palmer-Houlden came in along with midfielders Wildig and Harry Charsley, Kiban Rai and James Waite dropping down to the bench.
Central defender Kyle Jameson was also among the substitutes after being out since August with a hip injury.
The loss of Baker led to a pre-match guessing game – flat back four or 3-5-2 with Scot Bennett dropping back?
It was the latter, and within three minutes the Exiles were celebrating the opener.
Will Evans broke through and went down in the box but there was no need for ref Sam Allison to make a decision, the ball rolled to Wildig and he calmly rounded Joe McDonnell then slotted.
It was almost 2-0 in the fourth minute with Palmer-Houlden latching onto a long ball and driving a left-footed shot narrowly wide then Bennett had a header blocked on the line from a corner after 10.
The Exiles knew the danger of a one-goal lead from the Newport meeting, especially with Enzio Boldewijn causing Adam Lewis issues down the visitors’ left.
The game settled down after a very open start with County’s defence doing well to prevent any clear chances from the first bout of Eastleigh pressure approaching the half hour.
The Exiles went close again in the 39th minute when Evans did superbly to spread play to Lewis down the left, who crossed for Wildig.
The scorer opened up his body but couldn’t guide his volley on target, hitting the side netting instead.
That was the final chance of a half in which Nick Townsend had not been forced into the same heroics as he was in Doncaster.
The Exiles, as they did in Yorkshire, made a half-time change with Lewis Payne replacing Lewis as he works towards full fitness with Shane McLoughlin switching flanks.
County were soon level-pegging after being undone by a long ball that led to McCallum, after it bounced up, smashing a dipping shot over the stranded Townsend.
The visitors shouldn’t have been level but that was the reality; the Exiles needed to respond, and did.
It looked like they should have had a penalty for handball but Allison instead pointed for a corner that provided County’s second.
McLoughlin struck it to the far post and Clarke showed hunger to win the header and accuracy to get it down and in.
That took the sting out of the game but the Exiles were given a warning – as if they needed one – with 73 gone when McCallum controlled but slashed a left-footed shot high and wide on the turn.
Yet County got the third that they needed in the 78th minute when Evans took a touch past a defender before drilling a shot past McDonnell.
The Eastleigh ‘keeper produced a wonderful stop to deny Bryn Morris an absolute clincher in the 82nd minute.
However, the Exiles did a professional job to kill the clock without drama – Wrexham Saturday. Manchester United a week on Sunday.
Eastleigh scorers: McCallum.
County: Townsend, McLoughlin, Clarke, Bennett, Delaney (captain), Lewis (Payne 45), Morris, Wildig (Waite 76), Charsley, Evans, Palmer-Houlden.
Subs not used: Maxted, Bright, Sanca, Bondswell, Jameson, Wood, Rai.
Yellow: Payne.
Scorers: Wildig, Clarke, Evans.
Referee: Sam Allison.
Attendance: 5,075 (750 County).
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