Robins ease past drab Clarets

Last updated : 28 January 2002 By Robin Redbreast
Little and Large goal heroes
Cheltenham's victory has seen them paired with another First Division club in the next round, West Bromwich Albion, in a tie to be played at The Hawthorns.

Two goals in the first 28 minutes effectively won the tie, and we were certainly helped by the injury to Burnley's first-choice keeper Nik Michopolous, who left the field of play on 19 minutes.

His replacement Luis Cennamo looked a bag of nerves, and indeed his first contribution was to pick the ball out of the net on 23 minutes. Russell Milton curled a shot around the wall and it squeezed in by the post. In reality it wasn't well struck, and Michopolous may well have saved it, but the Robins didn't care and they were in the lead.

Five minutes later and and a completely unmarked Julian Alsop doubled the lead, with what proved to be the winner. Milton provided the cross from the left, and Alsop's downward headed bounced off the turf and into the roof of the net.

Alan Moore pulled one back for the Clarets almost immediately with an impressive solo run which took him past two defenders before he fired home, but Town held firm for the remainder of the match to clinch a famous victory.

Burnley boss Stan Ternent was understandably upset with his troops, and it was fair to say they did have a stinker, but Town manager Steve Cotterill was over the moon: "It's difficult to say whether this is my proudest moment. I was pretty proud when we got promotion from the Dr. Martens League and when we went to Wembley, and it's hard to split them up."

The boss went on to say that further progress is up to the fans who come through the turnstiles: "It was fantastic to see so many fans. There's no point in having 2,800 for a League match and then 7,000 today. The supporters will dictate just how far this club can go."