FOR a residential social worker, Andy Gouck sure knows how to kick a team when they're down.

Sent on with only six minutes to go, the 31-year-old former Blackpool and Rochdale midfielder broke Town hearts with a vicious volley three minutes into stoppage time at the end.

It was a cruel blow to Peter Jackson's side, who had battled hard if not creatively with 10 men from the scandalous 16th-minute dismissal of Jonathan Worthington to within a whisker of a McAlpine replay (Rory Prendergast's writhing reaction was a disgrace).

No-one felt more hurt than substitute keeper Phil Senior, who had been on the pitch barely two minutes as replacement for hand-injury victim Ian Gray.

Senior had taken only a goal-kick after waiting 22 matches for a chance when Gouck's thunderbolt flashed past him from roughly 20 yards.

The shot sent a historic part of Lancashire into rapture while the 395 Town fans present and thousands more watching live on BBC1 simply couldn't take it in.

A banner among the Accrington fans read: Who let the Gouck out?

The man himself - who scored his first Football League goal on his debut for Blackpool against Town at Leeds Road in 1990 - had the answer.

"I told John Coleman to put me on, not the other way around!" smiled Gouck, who was back at work today after earning his Conference colleagues a trip to Bournemouth in the second round.

"I've scored one or two good goals from long range in my career, but with this being the FA Cup and live on television, I'll remember this one for a long, long time."

Gouck did not set his video to record the match because he was disappointed at being left out of the starting line-up - Fartown-based Dean Calcutt got the nod instead - but he was honest in his assessment of the match.

"There weren't many chances and it looked odds-on it was going to be a goalless draw," he said.

"I've a lot of sympathy for Huddersfield because the referee was very harsh to send the lad off.

"There was no intent at all, he just had his foot up a bit as the ball dropped down."

Calcutt, who described the tie as a dream day against his boyhood favourites, echoed those sentiments.

"With Town going down to 10 men so early it changed the game completely," said the former Emley Cup warrior.

"I thought Town played really well and, from the side, you couldn't really tell it was 10 against 11, so it was always going to take a piece of individual brilliance to win it and Andy came up with it for us.

"It was a brilliant strike and I think it was really unfortunate for the keeper going on (Senior) to get caught when he was cold with a fantastic strike like that.

"Town would have deserved a replay and, to be honest, we would have settled for it even though we were playing only 10 men, but it was fantastic to win."

Calcutt said his phone never stopped ringing from the moment the draw was made, and it would have carried on ringing had he scored with a raking 25-yarder in first-half stoppage time.

Only the fingertips of Gray prevented him netting one of the goals of the round and it was the closest anyone went to a goal in a frenetic first half in which the cameras showed Efe Sodje was lucky to get away with an elbow on Paul Mullin.

Only wonderful defending by Nathan Clarke and Anthony Lloyd prevented Lutel James and Mullin scoring in a scramble at the start of the second half, while Gray clasped a curling 20-yarder from Paul Cook and Sodje escaped punishment for a handball in a six-yard box skirmish.

At this point Town, for all their hard work, had let themselves down around the Accrington box with some misdirected shots and crosses. The hard-working Danny Schofield whacked a couple of shots high and wide when well-placed, while Chris Holland's low shot was deflected wide in the first half.

In fact, they did not fashion a shot on target until six minutes from time when Lloyd had Jon Kennedy stretching to grab a well-placed right-foot drive, and the failure to create was by far the biggest disappointment in Town's performance.

They certainly worked hard enough, restricting Accrington to few clear chances, although Mullin should have scored with an eight-yard header on 73 minutes; the only time in the match when he managed to slip the excellent Clarke.

Clarke, Sodje and Paul Scott all worked tirelessly, Lloyd and Andy Holdsworth did well and there was no shortage of graft from Booth, who went close with a couple of headers, and Jon Stead, whose free-kicks were close but not close enough.

In the end, stoppage time proved a heartbreaker for Town, whose 10 men did just about enough to earn another crack.

Credit to Accrington, though, because they worked hard, the glory was theirs and the kids watching from nearby trees will certainly never forget it.

Town fans will never forget referee Mike Jones, whose hasty, misguided decision in dismissing Worthington provided an extra hurdle which Jackson's men weren't in good enough away form to clear.

TOWN FORM (3-5-2)

Ian Gray Unbelievable save to keep out Calcutt's first half drive. Handled well and unlucky with injury which forced him off Rating: 5/10

Andy Holdsworth Made one surging first half break and supplied a couple of decent crosses. Covered Prendergast pretty well on the flank Rating: 5/10

Anthony Lloyd Kept his place with Carss injured and put in a battling performance. Also had Town's best shot near the end Rating: 5/10

Paul Scott Solid effort against James and Mullin and never shirked a tackle. Made some strong clearances, too Rating: 5/10

Nathan Clarke Had a fine match. Twice he prevented goals with last-ditch tackles, while his use of the ball was generally positive Rating: 7/10

Efe Sodje A battling show, but lucky not to see red for an elbow on Mullin and also with a handball which the ref missed Rating: 5/10

Jon Worthington Desperately unlucky to be sent off when trying to shoot. He'd been an early driving force and Town missed him in the centre Rating: 5/10

Chris Holland Busy display, but couldn't find the killer pass to unlock the Accrington defence. Worked hard alongside Schofield Rating: 5/10

Danny Schofield Got through a lot of work after the dismissal and pushed for top man award, but missed with a couple of decent shots Rating: 5/10

Andy Booth Had a couple of reasonable heading opportunities but could not find the target. Unlucky to be booked Rating: 5/10

Jon Stead Tried his luck with a couple of free-kicks but was just off the mark. Worked hard but chances were rare Rating: 5/10

Accrington Stanley

Kennedy, Cavanagh, Hollis, Halford (Smith HT), Williams, Procter, Calcutt (Jackson 67), Cook (Gouck 84), James, Prendergast, Mullin.

Subs not used: Speare, Armstrong.

***

Star Man

Nathan Clarke

Showed a very cool head for a teenager in the height of battle and, on this sort of form, it might not be long before Town are fending off bids for his services as well. Two tackles saved goals and he marshalled partners Sodje and Scott for what looked a 10-man draw

Turning Point

The sending-off of Jon Worthington looked very harsh and left Town with 10 men for 75 minutes. That was a big advantage to Stanley, but Town seemed comfortable enough until Gouck sent in his rocket shot

Statistics

Subs used: Stanley: Smith for Halford HT, Jackson for Calcutt 67, Gouck for Cook 84. Town: Mattis for Holland 80, Senior for Gray 89, Brown for Scott 90.

Subs not used: Stanley: Speare, Armstrong. Town: Hughes, Mirfin.

Scorer: Stanley: Gouck 90.

Referee - Mike Jones (Ellesmere Port).

Dismisal: Worthington (Town) 16 mins.

Bookings: Stanley: Halford, Cavanagh, Procter. Town: Booth.

Shots on target: Stanley 4, Town 1.

Corners: Stanley 8, Town 4.

Caught offside: Stanley 0, Town 3.

Free-kicks awarded: Stanley 9, Town 13.

Attendance: 3,129.

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