Tottenham survive extra time, ‘torpedo’ long throws and Tamworth heroics in FA Cup thriller
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Tamworth 0-3 Tottenham (after extra time): Ange Postecoglou had to send on Dejan Kulusevski and Son Heung-min to finally put the non-league side away. Tamworth is not short of lore, having been a royal centre for the Kingdom of Mercia until the Vikings invaded. On Sunday, we came mightily close to another historic chapter in the town’s epic tale.
![[Tottenham wrapped up their win in extra time]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/12/15/GettyImages-2193541819-%281%29.jpg)
Tottenham Hotspur didn’t hold back against National League opposition, blooding the best Ange Postecoglou could muster, from the start or off the bench at The Lamb, but the fifth-tier hosts, on the grandest occasion in their history, were anything but put to slaughter.
![[Kick-off was delayed by five minutes for a classic ‘Sunday league’ scene]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/12/15/GettyImages-2193524015.jpg)
Spurs required extra time and the ugliest of own goals to see off David in this Goliath tussle, a goal that would not have been possible in previous seasons when a replay was on offer. Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson did put the tie to bed with two well-taken goals, but another evening of mental turmoil awaits for Postecoglou, as he tries to fathom why a team who looked to have turned the corner with their dogged victory over Liverpool in midweek could look so flat, against such inferior opponents.
![[Tamworth boss Andy Peaks was proud of his side’s efforts]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/12/15/GettyImages-2193534175.jpg)
You pretty much had a full house in the non-league FA Cup third round tie bingo before a ball had even been kicked. The ramshackle Lamb Ground did not even measure taller than Tottenham’s team bus as it made its way past the town’s most famous sporting venue – the Tamworth SnowDome – into the corrugated metal metropolis.
