St Albans City chairman Nick Archer sets his sights on Grimsby Town FA Cup upset
Lee Chappell celebrates scoring the goal that puts the Saints into the 1st Round of teh FA Cup - Credit: Archant
St Albans City chairman Nick Archer believes the Saints have all the tools in their arsenal to pull off an FA Cup shock.
City were rewarded for defeating Weston-super-Mare 2-1 in Saturday’s fourth qualifying round with a trip to Vanarama National League outfit Grimsby Town in the first round proper a week on Saturday (November 7).
The Mariners, managed by former Rotherham United left-back Paul Hurst, currently lie fourth in the league while the Saints now languish in the Vanarama National League South bottom two following Basingstoke Town’s first victory of the season, at home to Whitehawk, last Tuesday night.
As the old adage goes though, league form goes out the window when it comes to cup competitions and Archer is optimistic City can dispose of Town and put their name in the hat for the second round.
Archer told the Herts Ad: “First and foremost, we were happy to draw a team from the league above.
“We obviously would have liked a home draw, but this is the next best thing and it’s a great game for us because it will certainly test us.
“So many times in past competitions one team has thought that they are in for an easy game when they get drawn with someone from a lower league, but we know we have the players to trouble them.
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“It’ll come down to who wants it more on the day, but I definitely think we have a great chance of progressing from this tie.
“More than anything, this is a great day out for the fans and supporters so we’ll probably put a bit more money into the coach that the team travel up there and back on. Go up there in a bit of style.
“I’ve heard potentially we could take two coach-loads of fans up there which would be amazing.
“We want the fans to get excited and enjoy the day.”
Before that, Saints face a huge league clash this coming Saturday, travelling to fourth-bottom Havant and Waterlooville.
The Hawks have won just three league games this season, with the last of those victories coming at the end of August so the Saints could pick up a vital win in a game Archer is reluctant to call a “six-pointer”.
He continued: “It’s not gone as we planned in the league so far this season, but there’s plenty of time to turn it around. We’re not even into November yet.
“We don’t see any game before Christmas as a six-pointer. It’s too early for that.
“We’ll just play our normal game and see what happens.”
