Chelsea eventually saw off Plymouth, by the way, 2-1 after extra time. So a couple of huge shocks failed to materialise in the end, but it remains a day fans of Kidderminster and Plymouth will remember for a long time. Plenty of other ties being played this afternoon, though, so please join Tim de Lisle for FA Cup Clockwatch. Thanks for reading this MBM!
Declan Rice joins in with the applause. A class act, he’s still clapping when the BBC collars him for an interview. “Massive, massive respect to Kidderminster. We watched a few videos of them. They’ve been flying. They’re tough lads. We scraped it today, we weren’t at our best. They probably deserved that today, if I’m being honest with you. We really need to improve, but massive congratulations to them, because they were impressive. I’m really delighted we got through.”
Russell Penn responded to that gut-wrenching blow by pulling his snood over his face, to grab a brief moment for himself. Then he yanked it back down, and he’s currently doing a lap of honour with his players, a bittersweet smile playing across his face. Everyone’s staying back to give Kidderminster the ovation they deserve. These are lovely scenes. The FA Cup, right here. It’s still special, you know.
EXTRA TIME, FULL TIME: Kidderminster Harriers 1-2 West Ham United
Almost unbearable heartbreak for a second time for Kidderminster, who have been superb. Once the shock of West Ham’s late, late winner subsides, the crowd emit perhaps the biggest roar of the afternoon in honour of their players. Every one a hero, despite it all.
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GOAL! Kidderminster Harriers 1-2 West Ham United (Bowen 120+1)
More heartbreak for Harriers! Yarmolenko crosses deep from the right. Cresswell, at the far stick, rolls back across the face of goal for Bowen, who slams home from a couple of yards. What a smash and grab this has been!
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ET 30 min: There will be one extra minute.
ET 29 min: Bowen needlessly fouls Cameron to release the pressure on the hosts. Kidderminster so close to penalties now. Will they have their hearts broken a second time?
ET 28 min: Zouma is still struggling. He’s not quite at passenger status, but he’s certainly not moving freely, and isn’t best pleased when a pass is sent his way. He clears, but it hurts him to do so.
ET 26 min: Benrahma dribbles with grace down the left and wins a corner. White, calm and collected, deals with the set piece by running the ball away from danger.
ET 25 min: Lowe takes a speculative swipe from 30 yards. It sails about 30 yards wide left.
ET 24 min: Zouma is happily back up on his feet, although he’s hobbling badly.
ET 23 min: Zouma is down in some distress, having stood on the ball and then fallen heavily, possibly twisting something. He’s in a lot of pain.
ET 22 min: Lowe comes on for Bajrami.
ET 21 min: West Ham have the ball in the net, Bowen forcing the ball over the line from six yards, teed up by Yarmolenko’s low cross from the left. But Yarmolenko was a yard offside as he was sent free by Benrahma’s pass down the channel. Up goes the flag. A roar of relief from the home crowd.
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ET 20 min: Rice aims a curler towards the bottom right. The ball takes a huge deflection but doesn’t fall to Fornals. Kidderminster clear their lines.
ET 19 min: White is in the mood to create, and now he foxes Rice with a cute dragback and dink forward. The crowd enjoyed that.
ET 18 min: White tries to get something going for the hosts, but a long diagonal pass in the vague direction of Sterling-James flies out for a goal kick.
ET 17 min: This is already shaping up to be a backs-to-the-wall period for Kidderminster, who are struggling get out of their final third. Some blessed relief as the ball’s blootered up the other end.
ET 16 min: Fornals has a couple of digs from the edge of the box. Both are blocked.
West Ham get the second half of extra time underway. Martin comes on for Morgan-Smith, perhaps with a view to holding out for penalties.
EXTRA TIME, HALF TIME: Kidderminster Harriers 1-1 West Ham United
The sixth-tier side are holding their own in extra time. Meanwhile at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have taken the lead against Plymouth through Marcos Alonso. They’re 2-1 up as they go into the second half of extra time.
ET 15 min: A long free kick lumped into the West Ham box. Areola comes out to claim, and drops the ball in the environs of Morgan-Smith. The Kidderminster striker chests down, but the ball springs away from his control, allowing Areola to gather at the second attempt. For a second, Morgan-Smith’s eyes lit up there.
ET 13 min: Cresswell whips towards the top right. A deflection off the wall takes the ball out for a corner. Dawson meets the set piece, but can’t keep it down.
ET 12 min: Montrose blocks Bowen, 25 yards from goal. Free kick in a dangerous position, just to the right of centre.
ET 11 min: Kidderminster replace Hemmings with White.
ET 9 min: Benrahma, out on the left, overhits an awful cross out for a goal kick. He soon comes again and delivers a much better one, low towards the near post. Bowen races in to meet, six yards out, only for Richards to stick out a leg to block. What a fine last-ditch challenge.
ET 7 min: West Ham stroke it around to little effect.
ET 5 min: Sterling-James channels his inner Ronnie Radford and sends a 30-yard screamer inches over the bar. What a goal that would have been!
ET 4 min: Hemmings works his way down the right and wins a corner. Kidderminster dream of a repeat of the opening goal, but Sterling-James takes, and Soucek heads clear.
ET 2 min: Fornals crosses low from the right. Yarmolenko doesn’t connect properly, six yards out, but earns a corner nonetheless. From that, Bowen slices a shot wide right.
Kidderminster get the first period of extra time underway. They’d have grabbed this situation with both hands at 12.30pm, to be fair.
The game between Chelsea and Plymouth has also ended 1-1. They’ll be going to extra time as well.
FULL TIME: Kidderminster Harriers 1-1 West Ham United
Kidderminster hearts were broken at the last ... but there’s still extra time and possibly penalties to come.
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90 min +3: Rice nearly completes the ultimate smash and grab. He’s teed up by Benrahma, 25 yards from goal, and sends a heat-seeker towards the top right. Just wide. Too high.
GOAL! Kidderminster Harriers 1-1 West Ham United (Rice 90+1)
Rice exchanges passes with Fornals down the left, and dribbles into the box. He drops a shoulder to see off ... who else? ... poor Preston, and roofs a shot from six yards. What heartbreak for Kidderminster! West Ham save themselves at the death!
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90 min +1: Cresswell dribbles down the left, then along the byline. Preston, who is named man of the match, blooters clear. But then ...
90 min: There will be three added minutes.
89 min: Bowen makes his way down the right and thinks he’s won a corner off Sterling-James, but the referee points for a goal kick. Kidderminster ever closer to one of the great FA Cup shocks!
87 min: A long free kick pumped into the West Ham box. Hemmings heads over from 12 yards. The visitors go up the other end. Yarmolenko dribbles into the box and lays off to Benrahma, just to the left of the six-yard box. Aggborough holds its breath. Benrahma prods goalwards. Some pinball, and then the ball floats into the arms of Simpson. For a split second there, time stood still, an equaliser seemingly on the cards. But the sixth-tier side hold on!
86 min: The aforementioned Robert Plant is in the stand. He’s pictured biting his lip nervously. His heart must be going like a John Bonham solo.
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85 min: ... but then a huge cheer as Bowen makes a clumsy foul to release the pressure on the hosts!
84 min: An FA Cup shock for the ages is so close now. The tension in Aggborough is palpable. For the first time this afternoon, near silence as West Ham probe.
83 min: Redmond wins a Kidderminster corner down the left. It’s swung over Areola’s head. Areola punches clear, but only for a throw deep in West Ham territory. Penny saunters over to take. No rush. You’d take your sweet time too.
82 min: Fornals plays a ball down the right channel towards Yarmolenko in the box. Yarmolenko goes down with nobody near him. An embarrassing dive. He should go in the book, but all-round opprobrium is enough.
80 min: The Kidderminster faithful are making one hell of a racket. The fixtures and fittings are rattling along. Aggborough is almost literally bouncing. What an atmosphere! What a competition the FA Cup is.
78 min: A defensive switch for Kidderminster. The forward-thinking Austin is replaced by the more circumspect Redmond.
77 min: Fornals comes on for Vlasic.
76 min: Rice lines up a shot. The ball rears up, just as he commits to the strike, and his effort nearly clears the stand behind the goal. The home crowd, already in good spirits, enjoyed that very much.
74 min: Benrahma crosses from the left. The ball bounces through a crowded box to Soucek, who leans back and lifts an aimless effort high over the bar. Not the easiest of chances, but a chance nonetheless. They’ve been scarce for West Ham.
73 min: West Ham continue to probe, and Kidderminster continue to hold their shape.
72 min: Kidderminster make their first change, swapping out Carrington for Montrose.
71 min: The first booking of the afternoon. Cameron is the recipient of the yellow card, punishment for clipping the heel of Yarmolenko.
70 min: ... so Kidderminster show what they can do by playing some possession football in West Ham’s half. It’s an impressive passage of play, and one started by Morgan-Smith brushing Dawson off the ball with absurd ease.
68 min: West Ham have had 88 percent possession in the last five minutes. But here we remain.
67 min: West Ham are seeing an awful lot of the ball, but doing very little with it. A lack of tempo and very little visible purpose.
65 min: A free kick out on the left for Kidderminster. It’s hit long. Penny tries to guide it in at the far post, but can’t get any serious purchase on his effort. Goal kick.
64 min: West Ham make their second double change of the afternoon. Noble and Johnson make way for Soucek and Cresswell.
62 min: Nothing comes of the corner, and the first sustained period of West Ham pressure is over.
61 min: One corner leads to another, and Benrahma takes a dig from the edge of the box. The ball takes a deflection and looks to be heading into the bottom left. Simpson, suddenly earning his corn, scoops out for another corner.
60 min: ... but he has now! West Ham’s press springs Bowen into the Kidderminster box down the right. He drives towards the bottom right. Simpson gets down to parry. The rebound breaks to Bowen, following up. He tries to slip home from a tight angle, but is denied by the extended leg of Preston. Corner.
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58 min: Benrahma slides a pass down the left for Johnson, who earns West Ham a corner. Benrahma swings it in. Preston heads clear. Simpson still hasn’t had a serious save to make.
56 min: Hemmings slips a ball wide left for Sterling-James, who sashays infield and creams a rising shot over the bar. That wasn’t too far away, and West Ham want to watch themselves here. Another goal for the hosts, and they’ll be in a world of pain.
54 min: A Kidderminster throw down the right flank skims off Johnson’s head and out for a corner. The set piece is hung over Areola’s head. The keeper flaps again. Preston mistimes his jump and shoulders over the bar from close range.
53 min: West Ham finally cause Kidderminster some concern. Rice dribbles purposefully down the inside-left channel and into the box. He slips the ball outside to Vlasic, who crosses low and hard. Benrahma aims for goal but his shot is blocked. Much better from the side currently placed fifth in the Premier League.
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51 min: Austin dribbles down the left and wedges towards the centre. The ball hits Dawson on the elbow. Kidderminster scream for a penalty but they’re never getting one for that.
50 min: It’s a scrappy start to the second half. Kidderminster will be more than happy with the way it’s going.
49 min: Vlasic is dragged back by Preston, just to the right of the Kidderminster D. The referee waves play on. Preston wasn’t the last man, but it would have been a free kick in a dangerous position. Lucky Kidderminster.
47 min: Hemmings has a speculative whack from the best part of 30 yards. It’s not a million miles away from the top left, but fades wide at the last.
Kidderminster get the second half underway. No surprise that Moyes has hooked Diop, sending Dawson on in his place. Also no shock that Rice is on. He replaces Kral.
Half-time entertainment. Just in case you missed it.
HALF TIME: Kidderminster Harriers 1-0 West Ham United
Fifty years to the day since Hereford stunned Newcastle, another huge FA Cup shock is on. David Moyes storms off down the tunnel. A fair chance we’ll see Declan Rice sooner rather than later.
45 min: Benrahma blooters wildly over from 25 yards. This is a clueless display by the Premier League side.
44 min: This half has been played at 101 miles per hour, and Kidderminster have been the more energetic in the press. No wonder they’re leading.
42 min: Chelsea have drawn level with Plymouth at Stamford Bridge. Azpilicueta with a captain’s contribution.
41 min: A long ball down the West Ham left. Benrahma hares after it, but Simpson is quickly off his line to claim on the edge of the box. West Ham have offered nothing.
40 min: Morgan-Smith wins a corner down the right off Zouma. The set piece is hit long. Cameron rises highest at the far stick, but not high enough, the ball skimming off his head and out for a goal kick. You know what, though, 2-0 wouldn’t seriously flatter Kidderminster.
38 min: ... hilarity ensues. They’re determined to play these corners short, and ping a few passes back up the pitch. Johnson then hoicks a pass straight out of play under no pressure whatsoever. West Ham seriously need to up their game, because this shock is a serious possibility the way things are going.
37 min: Benrahma shows a rare bit of West Ham skill, dribbling cutely down the left and winning a corner. From which ...
35 min: This is turning into quite the fourth round. Middlesbrough have already knocked out Manchester United, Kidderminster are leading here, and Plymouth are winning at Chelsea! Macaulay Gillesphey with a seventh-minute header at Stamford Bridge.
33 min: A bit of space for Fredericks out on the right. He shanks a cross over the stand and into a nearby car park. The home fans enjoyed that. West Ham have been awful so far.
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31 min: Sterling launches long. Diop should deal with the situation easily, but Morgan-Smith puts him under pressure and forces him to bundle the ball out for a throw. Nothing comes of it, but it’s another illustration of Diop’s extreme unease. He needs to clear his head quicksmart.
29 min: A slight suggestion of handball in the build-up to the goal, the ball pinballing after Areola and Diop failed to clear, and hitting the hanging arm of Cameron. You’d need a heart of stone, or at least one that pumps claret and blue, to rule it out.
27 min: Fredericks whips a low cross in from the right. Bajrami bashes out for a corner ... and the set piece is dealt with easily enough. West Ham haven’t seriously worried Simpson in the Kidderminster goal yet.
25 min: Diop, still out of sorts, brings down Hemmings as the Kidderminster man dribbles along the inside-right channel. Sterling-James takes the free kick, curling around the wall and sending the ball inches wide of the bottom-right corner. So close to a second!
23 min: David Moyes has a look of queasy disbelief on his face. No wonder, his team have been second best so far.
21 min: West Ham are rattled, and Diop in particular is suffering. He’s brushed off the ball with absurd ease by Morgan-Smith, who barrels down the left, then along the byline, and tries to tee up Sterling-James. Areola reads the intention and smothers.
GOAL! Kidderminster 1-0 West Ham (Penny 19)
Something’s happening now all right! Diop bowls Morgan-Smith to the ground out on the left wing. Sterling-James swings the free kick into the mixer. Areola comes out and flaps, blocked out by his own man Diop. The ball drops to Penny, who calmly slams a sidefoot into the net from six yards! The shock is on!
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17 min: “I‘m neither fan of both teams but a huge fan of Led Zeppelin, begins Chris Mcvand. “After finding out that Robert Plant counts Kidderminster as his second team (in the article by Ben Fisher), I am rooting for them with a whole lot of love.” Still nothing going on. Hey, hey, what can I do?
15 min: The BBC are taking a while to roll out their new logo, aren’t they. The on-screen scoreboard still has the old Gill Sans job. No, nothing else is happening.
13 min: A free kick for Kidderminster on the halfway line. Sterling-James takes. His delivery doesn’t reach the line of players on the edge of the West Ham box, the wind holding it up. It’s breezy in the midlands.
11 min: Austin teases a cross in from the left. Zouma is forced to slice clear in a panic. The hosts are giving as good as they’re getting in these early exchanges.
10 min: West Ham respond by winning their second corner out on the left. They play it short again. Bowen wins another by knocking the ball against Austin. That’s played short, too, and Yarmolenko and Benrahma nearly open Harriers up down the inside-left flank ... but run into the brick wall of Preston.
9 min: ... and here they come again, Sterling-James sent down the inside-right channel by Austin, then sending a bobbler towards Areola. The keeper all over it again.
7 min: Kidderminster bare their teeth for the first time! A loose ball played across the face of the West Ham box is met by Austin, who pearls a glorious first-time drive towards the bottom right. Areola is behind it all the way, though he briefly loses control with Morgan-Smith lurking. The keeper snaffles quickly enough. That’ll give the minnows hope!
6 min: Johnson buys the first corner of the game from Penny down the left. West Ham take it short. The ball’s pulled back for Johnson, who tries his luck from 25 yards. Nope!
4 min: Johnson crosses from the same flank. Bowen nearly meets it, but goes over in the vicinity of Preston. He glances at the ref, hoping for a penalty, but he’s never getting one. Strong defending, nothing more.
3 min: Vlasic curls one in from the left. It’s a dangerous-looking ball, but one cleared in the no-nonsense style by Preston. The home side winning their battles so far.
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2 min: A scrappy start. The FA Cup at a non-league ground, you wouldn’t have it any other way.
West Ham get the ball rolling. On second viewing, those sky-blue stripes aren’t quite so Coventry-vivid, to be fair. But there we are.
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A proper old-school FA Cup atmosphere for this one. On that subject, it’s 50 years to the day since this happened.
The teams are out. Kidderminster are in their first-choice red, West Ham wear second-choice sky blue and white, all very Coventry ‘87. Granada Bingo, y’all. We’ll be off soon!
David Moyes is asked by the BBC if he’s been brooding over his loss here as a Preston player in 1994. “Not really, no. But when I think back all the years I played in the cup and managed in it, you’re always liable to have shocks. That’s what the cup does, so our job is to make sure there isn’t one today. We need to play well. Obviously we’re aware of Kidderminster’s great result against Reading and we have to respect that. I always want to get to finals. It doesn’t always happen, but we want to get a good run in the cup.”
Kidderminster manager Russell Penn speaks to the BBC. “It’s our cup final today. I’m so proud of the town, the club, the community, the owner and the players. Our bread and butter is the league, we really want to be promoted, but having this in the background helps. We’re going to pay them the utmost respect, I’m sure they’ll do the same to us. I’m so happy for the players, I just want them to do themselves justice.”
There’s another fourth-round tie kicking off at 12.30pm, and it’s one Chelsea coach Thomas Tuchel won’t attend. He’s tested positive for Covid-19, and will miss his team’s home tie with Plymouth Argyle. It’s now a race against time to see if he can make the Club World Cup next week, with the squad flying out later tonight ahead of Wednesday’s semi-final in Abu Dhabi. “Thomas Tuchel has tested positive for Covid-19,” read a Chelsea statement. “The Chelsea head coach will now follow necessary self-isolation protocols and hopes to join up with the team in Abu Dhabi later next week.”
David Moyes goes strong as three-time winners West Ham look to avoid an embarrassing result against Kidderminster of the National League North. Mark Noble, Kurt Zouma, Jarrod Bowen, Said Benrahma and Andriy Yarmolenko all start, while Declan Rice has a place on the bench at Aggborough.
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The teams
Kidderminster: Simpson, Penny, Cameron, Bajrami, Richards, Preston, Carrington, Hemmings, Austin, Sterling-James, Morgan-Smith.
Subs: Redmond, Lowe, Montrose, Foulkes, Martin, Lissimore, White, Emery, Bastable.
West Ham United: Areola, Fredericks, Zouma, Diop, Johnson, Kral, Noble, Bowen, Vlasic, Yarmolenko, Benrahma.
Subs: Cresswell, Coufal, Fornals, Dawson, Soucek, Randolph, Okoflex, Rice, Alese.
Referee: Jonathan Moss (County Durham).
Preamble
David Gold, David Sullivan and Karren Brady can be forgiven for feeling nervous as their club take on non-league Kidderminster this lunchtime. Sixth-tier Harriers may be the lowest-ranked team left in this year’s FA Cup, but West Ham’s directors have suffered at their hands before: they were running Birmingham City back in 1994, when Kidderminster shocked Blues 2-1 at St Andrews. David Moyes is also permitted a little shudder, because that year he was a member of the Preston team subsequently beaten by Harriers in the following round. Everyone else connected with West Ham can simmer down, though, as it was the Hammers who ended Kidderminster’s brave run in the fifth round. Plenty of historical resonance with this one, then. Kick off is at 12.30pm GMT, and there will be extra time and penalties if necessary. It’s on!
