Morecambe 2 Great Harwood 3 (aet)

GREAT Harwood created a sensation at Christie Park, slamming three past the fifth-placed team in the Vauxhall Conference to progress to the semi-finals of the LFA ATS Trophy.

And they did it with 10 men after Ian Lang was sent off for a second bookable offence late in the game.

Phil Brown was the hero, poking home a loose ball that popped out of the Morecambe keepers' hands in the second period of extra time to score the winner.

But it was the commitment and all-round organisation displayed by the entire team that proved the crucial factor.

Harwood came to win and from the outset their intentions couldn't have been made clearer.

A Dave Bennett free picked out Paul Brown after a quarter-of-an-hour and his powerful header put the visitors one up.

Morecambe then applied sustained pressure that left Martin Eatough's men clinging on.

But it was the 59th minute before they managed to break the Harwood defence down, John Norman equalising with a well-placed header. Within 10 minutes Harwood had reclaimed the lead, Shaun Bursnell breaking clear and slotting the ball beyond the keeper. For the next 15 minutes Harwood had their backs to the wall and finally gave way with five minutes left, Brian Healy drawing the sides level for the second time in the match.

"At that stage all we could do was hope to bring them back home," said player-manager Eatough.

Phil Brown had different ideas, converting early in the second period of extra time and leaving Harwood with about 12 minutes to hold out.

They did, thanks in no small part to a brilliant save from Lee Kennedy who kept out a scorching header from Ian McCluskey.

"Every single one of our players battled hard for this victory which was full deserved," enthused Eatough.

"I've had better nights in football but none more satisfying.

"Everything went to plan. We knew they like to play it from the back. So we sat back, put men behind the ball, frustrated them and countered.

"They ended up punting long balls forward."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.