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.”
Liverpool 4-3 Chelsea: Blues' title hopes suffer huge hit as Bonner decides seven-goal thriller
Chelsea's hopes of a fifth straight Women's Super League title are hanging by a thread after a dramatic 4-3 defeat to Liverpool, with Gemma Bonner scoring a stoppage-time winner for the Reds.
Arriving at Prenton Park six points behind leaders Manchester City with two games in hand, Chelsea had no margin for error but finished on the wrong end of a remarkable contest.
The Blues started brightly and went ahead through Agnes Beever-Jones' header, with Catarina Macario being denied a second by a marginal offside call. However, Liverpool hit back early in the second half as Sophie Haug looped a header in from Marie-Therese Hobinger's corner.
Matt Beard's Reds went ahead for the first time when another Hobinger corner was flicked in by Bonner at the near post, though Chelsea made it 2-2 with 10 minutes to play as Beever-Jones rifled into an empty net after Niamh Charles drew Teagan Micah off her line.
Emma Hayes would have been expecting them to kick on from there, but Liverpool were back ahead within 59 seconds as Leanne Kiernan latched onto Ceri Holland's pass to slot home.
Chelsea drew level for a second time when Macario's shot deflected in off Micah, but they were caught with a sucker punch as they chased a winner, Bonner glancing yet another Hobinger corner home to leave Hayes needing a miracle to deliver a farewell title.
Data Debrief: Hayes' hopes fading
Future United States boss Hayes was furious with the officials after Chelsea exited the Women's Champions League against Barcelona on Saturday, but a fast start to Wednesday's game would have given her hope of a response.
However, Chelsea let a chaotic game get away from them after the break, losing a league match in which they led at half-time for the first time since September 2022 – a 2-1 loss at Liverpool.
Having been eyeing a quadruple just a few weeks ago, Chelsea now need an incredible collapse from City if they are to retain their title – given the Citizens' superior goal difference, just one more win may get them over the line.
'It's here to stay' – Postecoglou jokes he's moving to Sweden to escape VAR
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has joked he may move to Sweden in order to escape VAR, claiming it has changed English football for the worse.
Plans to introduce VAR to the Swedish Allsvenskan – the country's top tier – have been dropped amid fierce opposition from clubs and supporters.
The use of VAR in the Premier League has been a major talking point throughout the season, with a number of high-profile controversies undermining fan support for the technology.
Last week, Mauricio Pochettino said VAR had "damaged" the image of English football after Axel Disasi had a potential stoppage-time winner chalked off during Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Aston Villa.
Ahead of Thursday's meeting with Pochettino's Blues, Postecoglou was asked whether English clubs might follow the lead of their Swedish counterparts.
"I'm moving there. I don't have a job, I'm just moving there," Postecoglou joked, before adding: "Yeah, it's here to stay, absolutely. It's not going away.
"I'd change a hell of a lot on it, but I've said that before. I think it's changed the game materially, which I don't think was the intention when it was brought in."
Postecoglou also seemed to suggest the application of VAR in England has been more troublesome than elsewhere, saying it had worked "seamlessly" in Tuesday's Champions League semi-final draw between Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
"I watched the Champions League last night like everyone else, and if you hadn't told me VAR was part of the game I wouldn't have known," Postecoglou added.
"I'm sure they had decisions to make but it seemed to work pretty seamlessly.
"Like I said, we're trying to pick the bones out of every little thing that happens in a football game at the moment – whether that's the referee or any other part.
"I don't like it, it changes the game, it changes the game experience whether you're involved or not as an active spectator. Hopefully they'll find the right sort of ground for it to work."
Al Ittihad 1-2 Al Hilal: Holders into King's Cup final
Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's red card as Saud Abdulhamid's late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King's Cup semi-finals.
Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday's clash.
Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Al Ittihad's Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal's opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.
Al Hilal are 10-time King's Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.
The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the final at the end of May.
Data Debrief: Malcom in the middle
Al Hilal might be missing their star Brazilian Neymar, but his compatriot Malcom is delivering when it comes to playmaking.
The former Zenit attacker set up both of Al Hilal's goals, creating three chances in total and registering a pass accuracy of 92.6 per cent, better than any of his team-mates.
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