So heartening, magical and, at times, mesmeric has the Maidstone United story been this season, there is a line of thinking that George Elokobi and his side are to thank for singlehandedly saving the FA Cup, having reminded us of its raw charm. It certainly felt that way as, despite a 5-0 defeat, Elokobi embarked on a lap of the pitch to applaud all four sides of this stadium, soaking up the praise that came his way from the stands. It was very much a two-way thing.
Elokobi is viewed as something of a saviour given sixth-tier Maidstone’s unforgettable ride through seven rounds of this competition but in these parts Coventry have their own untouchable manager in Mark Robins, who scored a pivotal winner en route to clinching this trophy with Manchester United in 1990. Robins has steered Coventry through many a storm and here they breezed into Wednesday’s quarter-final draw, Ellis Simms scoring a first-half hat-trick before Fábio Tavares struck twice late on to complete the rout.
