With their thrilling FA Cup run at its heartbreaking end Kidderminster Harriers turned minds to souvenirs and celebrations, and pride eclipsed disappointment.
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On the back row of the main stand, manager Russell Penn grinned as he pulled a tightly-rolled West Ham shirt from a jacket pocket and filed away the memory of his duel with David Moyes and their brief chat over a beer in his office.
Alex Penny, Harriers scorer and so very nearly the match-winner, tried to fathom how Jarrod Bowen, a former team-mate when they were starting out at Hull City, had won the game in stoppage time at the end of extra time.
Alex Penny fired Kidderminster Harriers into an early 1-0 lead against West Ham on Saturday
While, down in the dressing rooms, there was a frenzy of shirt swapping and Declan Rice, having rescued West Ham with an equaliser in the 91st minute, took the post-match mingle to a new extremes.
‘Declan Rice has showered with our lads,’ said Penn. ‘Their showers are really small, so they’ve mixed in with ours. It’s things like this that will live in their memories. I’ve got a couple of shirts, their kit man has been excellent.
‘They’re a good group. We wish them all the best in the Premier League, Europe and the FA Cup.’
Matt Preston, on loan at Harriers from Solihull Moors and voted man of the match, had his hands on Aaron Cresswell’s shirt although the towering centre half wasn’t sure he could ever pull it on.
Penny’s opening strike after 20 minutes blew the roof off a packed-out Aggborough Stadium
‘I was like, ‘‘This is a baby shirt’’,’ Preston grinned, and he recalled Andriy Yarmolenko winching him up off the turf at the end of extra time. ‘He said, ‘‘Don’t be down on yourselves, you’ve done unbelievably’’. They were all very respectful, weren’t massive-time at all, which you sometimes get.’
How could they be? West Ham, fifth in the Premier League, had been within seconds of the greatest humbling in FA Cup history.
‘That close,’ said Penn, measuring the distance with a finger and thumb. ‘The noise with five minutes to go when we were 1-0 up and they were trying to egg us on, that’s where I thought ‘‘wow’’ and had to take stock a little bit.
‘A great day. Obviously, disappointing at the end, but I’ll be over the moon in the morning.’
The Premier League side were saved late on when midfielder Declan Rice fired in an equaliser
Rice’s introduction at half-time changed the tie. ‘They played 10 yards further up the pitch,’ said Penn.
Alex Kral and Issa Diop were hooked after 45 minutes and they were not the only ones struggling to cope in unusual surroundings.
The Premier League, with its pristine surfaces and intricate football, is perhaps further than ever in terms of culture from the National League North, tier six. ‘Sometimes it’s just a shock to the system,’ said Rice.
On a blustery day, at a modest venue exposed to the elements, West Ham had to depend on character as well as technical quality.
Jarrod Bowen had a tap in in the final few seconds to send West Ham through in the FA Cup
‘There’s grass on the pitch but some of the one-touch passing they usually do, maybe they couldn’t,’ said Preston. ‘You could tell during the game they were getting frustrated.’
These two hours of drama at Aggborough Stadium, on Saturday afternoon, were an absolutely wonderful reminder of the FA Cup’s unique and enduring appeal, and its ability to lift the soul even in defeat.
‘Party,’ said Penn, when asked what next. ‘We all have family and friends here in the boxes and fan zone outside. We’ve got a free week for recovery so we can enjoy the night, they deserve it.’
West Ham filed out and left them to it, and, hopefully, Led Zeppelin front man and Harriers fan Robert Plant had left the scene as rock classics were murdered on karaoke machines in the beer tents behind the main stand.
It was a devastating conclusion to the dramatic Cup tie for sixth tier Kidderminster Harriers
Moyes and West Ham return to the Premier League against Watford at the London Stadium on Tuesday with Michail Antonio, who trained on Saturday, available again after returning late from international duty with Jamaica.
‘When we left at 2pm on Friday, Mic hadn’t turned up at the training ground yet so we weren’t able to use him,’ said the West Ham boss, hoping that there would be no negative impact on Antonio’s form.
‘He’s back (now). He got in late and trained. He’s been away a couple of times and I’ve had concerns about it because it’s new to him. It’s not something he’s been doing since he was 21 or 22.
‘They are long journeys but I will never stop anybody if they want to play for their chosen country.’