Eastleigh manager Richard Hill claimed his side used the sense of injustice after George Langston’s first-half red card to inspire them to fight back from a goal down to earn a replay with a 1-1 draw at Newport.
Centre-back Langston was sent off for an elbow on County midfielder Harry Charsley seven minutes before the break, leaving the National League side with an uphill task.
And League Two County looked to be on their way to the fourth round once defender James Clarke turned in Shane McLoughlin’s corner in the 56th minute.
But Clarke brought down 25-goal Spitfires striker Paul McCallum in the box and Chris Maguire, who had earlier hit the post, levelled with a confident penalty into the top corner eight minutes from time.
“We had to give it a go,” said Hill, whose side dumped out League One Reading in the second round. “There was no point just keeping the score down in the last 20 minutes.
“We made positive substitutions and we’ve got players who are pretty special in certain areas of the pitch, and anything can happen.”
Hill was unhappy with the decision to show Langston a straight red and felt the home crowd influenced the officials.
“I’ve got to be careful – the FA police will be watching – it was a foul to us,” he added. “Will Evans was fouling our boys throughout the game, but sometimes the officials aren’t good enough to see that because they haven’t played the game. The crowd affected the linesman for the whole game as well.
“We felt a little bit aggrieved, and it motivated us. We sailed by the seat of our pants, but we were resolute. And when it went 1-1, I was telling the lads to go and win it.”
Maguire was the hero for the 1,000 travelling fans and Hill paid tribute to the experienced former Aberdeen, Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland man for his composure.
“There’s no better in the National League, or in League Two, than Chris Maguire to be in that position,” he insisted.
“He said to me as he was coming off the pitch ‘never in doubt’ and you have to believe him.
“We’ve only done half a job and we have to be mindful of that. We can’t think it’s a foregone conclusion, but we’ve got another chance.”
Exiles boss Graham Coughlan was also angry at referee Ed Duckworth for the penalty decision.
“It was a shocker,” said Coughlan. “It was based around the first-half decision to send their centre-half off.
“As a former centre-half I have taken a few and chucked a few, so know when one is chucked deliberately.”
The replay at the Silverlake Stadium is an unwanted extra fixture for the Welsh side, who should have been out of sight before the equaliser.
“I have mixed emotions,” added Coughlan. “We played really well, were the dominant team and moved the ball well to get into good positions.
“Before the sending off we were good and created chances that we just didn’t finish.
“Unfortunately, we are coming away from a game yet again talking about a ridiculous decision.
“We should have seen the game through, but the game was always likely to swing on a naive refereeing decision.
“We shoot ourselves in the foot, that’s evident, and I’ve got to take ownership for that.
“Overall, we need to realise how well we played, it was just that finishing touch and little bit of quality in the final third.”
Camarda will make first Milan start in Morata's absence, says Fonseca
Paulo Fonseca confirmed teenage forward Francesco Camarda will make his first Milan start in place of the injured Alvaro Morata against Cagliari.
Morata suffered a head injury in training on Thursday and was taken to hospital where an MRI was carried out, and while no damage was found, he will take no part in Saturday's away game.
"It was a strange situation, in an exercise yesterday he collided with [Strahinja] Pavlovic," Fonseca told reporters.
"Initially, I didn't think it was such a problem as it turned out to be, but he is not ready to play tomorrow. He's fine, but he's not ready."
Morata has, however, been selected in Spain's Nations League squad, with their manager Luis de la Fuente saying the player is fit, something which surprised Fonseca.
"I don't know why he said that. There is a protocol that says that a player must stop for 10 days," Fonseca added.
"I don't know how he can say that he plays. That is, it is not an option, it is a mandatory thing. I don't know how De la Fuente can do this."
With Morata, who has scored three goals in all competitions for Milan this season, unavailable, and Luka Jovic struggling for fitness, it was expected that Tammy Abraham would lead the line at Cagliari after recovering from a shoulder injury.
However, Fonseca revealed he had instead chosen the 16-year-old Camarda.
"Morata at the moment has a very specific role. Morata is not always a striker, but many times he is a player who unlocks the passing lines," said the 51-year-old.
"I think Camarda right now is more ready than Abraham to play this role."
Last season, Camarda became the youngest-ever player to appear in Serie A, coming on as a late substitute against Fiorentina in November at 15 years, eight months and 16 days old.
He then came on to replace Morata during Milan's 3-1 Champions League win over Club Brugge last month, where he thought he had scored his first goal for the club, but it was ruled offside, and now the youngster will get his first chance from the start.
"For me, it's not surprising. He works with us every day. I think everyone at the club believes in him a lot, he works well and understands the role well," Fonseca said.
"For me, players have no age, they have quality. And he shows every day that he has quality."
Michel: Congested schedule adding to Girona's injury troubles
Michel says it is easier to pick Girona's starting line-ups due to their mounting injury problems, as the players struggle to cope with the packed schedule.
Girona, who had never qualified for the Champions League in their 94-year history, secured a place in the European competition by finishing third in Laliga last season.
But playing matches across competitions with minimal time to rest has taken its toll, with Girona sitting 12th in LaLiga ahead of Sunday's trip to Getafe.
They have won just four matches in LaLiga this season, and only notched one victory in four Champions League matches, suffering a heavy 4-0 defeat to PSV on Wednesday in what was Michel's 150th game in charge of Girona.
"It's very easy to make the lineup, but it's very difficult to manage the games," he told reporters. "There is always a risk of injury, we cannot do rhythmic training and we have played every three days.
"It's complicated for everyone, but you have to face it with mentality and personality. The most important thing is to always be ourselves."
Last season's surprise package Girona have so far struggled to find form this campaign along with rising injury concerns.
Jhon Solis, Portu, Yaser Asprilla, Ivan Martin, Abel Ruiz, Viktor Tsygankov, Arnaut Danjuma, Gabriel Misehouy and Alejandro Frances are either doubts or unlikely to travel to Coliseum Stadium due to injuries.
Girona are coming off a 4-3 win over Leganés in their last LaLiga fixture and are looking to make it two wins in a row in the competition this season for only the second time, after doing so in early September (W2).
However, they have three draws and five losses in 12 league games, but Michel blamed himself for the team's underwhelming performances.
"The players always give their best on the pitch, but sometimes it is not enough to win games, like the other day in PSV," Michel said.
"When we lose, it's my responsibility. Playing every three days is difficult for everyone, but we have to face it with personality."
Al-Hilal 3-1 Al-Ettifaq: Champions return to the summit with dominant win
Al-Hilal surged back to the Saudi Pro League summit with a convincing 3-1 triumph over 10-man Al-Ettifaq on Friday.
The defending champions are now one point clear of Al-Ittihad in the standings, with their latest victory piling more misery on Al-Ettifaq boss, Steven Gerrard.
Al-Hilal struggled in the early exchanges at the Kingdom Arena, registering their first effort on Marek Rodak's goal in the 38th minute courtesy of Marcos Leonardo.
But the hosts would take the lead in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, with Mitrovic on hand to steer Renan Lodi's delivery into the net from close range.
Al-Hilal then doubled their advantage nine minutes from time when Malcolm collected the ball from Abdullah Al Hamddan, before rounding Rodak and finishing into an empty net.
However, hopes of a comeback from the visitors were revived in second-half stoppage time when Joao Cancelo gave away a penalty after a handball inside the box.
Vitinho stepped up and fired home the spot-kick, but Al-Hilal confirmed the win two minutes later through Mohammed Al Qahtani, with visiting forward Abdullah Radif shown a late red card for violent conduct.
Data Debrief: Happy Friday!
Al-Hilal continued their quest for a 20th Saudi Pro League crown with a dominant display against Al-Ettifaq, extending their unbeaten run against their opponents in the process.
They have now not lost their last 13 league encounters against Al-Ettifaq (W12 D1), surpassing their longest unbeaten streak against them in the competition (12 matches between 2008 and 2013 - W8 D4).
Al-Hilal have now lost only three matches when hosting teams on a Friday in the Pro League out of 55 matches (W46 D6 L3).
Lodi also took his goal contribution tally to eight this season in all competitions (three goals, five assists). During his European career with three different clubs, he only notched more goal involvements (nine) in the 2021-22 campaign with Atletico Madrid.
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