Two former Heywood St James players went head to head in Friday night’s exhilarating first-round FA Cup tie between Rochdale and FC United at Spotland.
The clash resulted in an historic giant-killing act for the Evo-Stik league minnows.
In the blue corner for Rochdale was centre back Craig Dawson, while in the red for the visitors was midfielder Jake Cotterell, both of whom played for the Phoenix Park outfit.
And the Jimmies old boys made major contributions to a thrilling contest; Cotterell unleashing an unstoppable left-foot shot from 20 yards out to put FC United 2-0 up, Dawson heading home a Brian Barry Murphy corner to level the scores at 2-2.
Cotterell, though, had the final say when FC United striker Mike Norton poked home a controversial injury time winner to put his team – 95 places below Rochdale in the league pyramid – through to the second round and a tie against either Brighton or Woking.
Dawson played for Heywood St James from under 14 to under 18 and was centre back for the under 18s team which won the Manchester County Youth Cup.
Cotterell turned out for 12 games, two seasons ago, as a left-sided midfield player, before departing for Oldham Town.
There to witness the exploits of his ex-players was Heywood St James long-standing manager Danny Dyson, who was delighted with what he saw.
He said: "It was a cracking match. To be honest I didn’t know who to support so I stayed neutral.
"But it was superb that they both scored good goals. It gave me a buzz. I felt proud they had both played for Jimmies."
Dyson, though, was bemused by the television pundits, who seemed to think that Cotterell was using his ‘swinger’ when he scored his goal, an opinion shared by FC United manager Karl Marginson.
He added: "It amused me that they said on the television that Jake had no left foot.
"When he played for us he was all left foot and played on the left hand side of midfield."
So did Danny see the potential in both players?
"You could see Craig had the potential to go a long way, but it wasn’t as obvious that Jake could play at a higher level to be honest.
"Craig’s dad Ken was the manager of the under 18s and Craig was totally involved. He used to cut the pitch and help his dad who did a lot of work in the clubhouse.
"That said I am thrilled for both lads and hope they go on to greater things."
Dawson has already done that, having been signed by Premier League outfit West Bromwich earlier in the season. He has been loaned back to Rochdale for the remainder of the 2010/11 campaign.
Posts
