MEN: Colne 2 FC United 1

Source: Manchester Online

Colne 2 FC United 1
Stuart Brennan

JOSH Howard has had a blast from Fergie's hairdryer - now he knows what it's like to go through Margy's mangle!

The former Manchester United youth team captain made his debut for FC United as they lost 2-1 in the League Challenge Cup to an injury-time goal against first division Colne.

And he found out that FC boss Karl Marginson can be as angry as the man from Govan when he sees his team lose.

"He wasn't happy," said Howard. "Perhaps he was a bit more constructive than Fergie, but he was not impressed with the way we defended."

The 25-year-old midfielder captained the Old Trafford youth team that included John O'Shea, Luke Chadwick and Michael Stewart, but fell foul of Fergie's wrath after he signed up with the United boss's least favourite agent Mel Stein.

Howard was singled out by Marginson as one of the few plus points on a disappointing afternoon for FC United and their amazing support - over 2,700 smashed the stadium record at Conference side Accrington Stanley's Interlink Express Stadium. But he will be missing for two weeks now, banned for a red card he picked up while with Mossley.

Punch

Marginson threatened his defenders with a shake-up after a game which ended in grand style with three goals in the last three minutes, followed by a touchline melee in which FC United's Rory Patterson was sent off, despite already having been substituted, for throwing a punch.

Said Marginson: "My assistant Phil Power tried to retrieve the ball when it went out of play, and one of their players tried to kick the ball away. He booted the ball at Phil who pushed him and then three or four of them jumped in.

"It's not something I want to see at football, especially when we have a big crowd like this."

It was nip and tuck, with FC keeper Barrie George pulling off two incredible saves in the first-half.

The goals did not start to come until three minutes from the end when Chris Clarke was allowed time and space to pick his spot and curl a beauty into the far corner of the FC United net.

Torpey replied with 10 seconds of normal time left - he tried to jink his way through the heart of a determined Colne defence and when he was pulled back, picked himself up to smash the free-kick around the wall and into the bottom corner.

The delirious FC fans were silenced again 90 seconds into added time as their defence was caught napping by a long ball over the top and on-loan Altrincham player Gary Williams raced clear to crash the winner past George.