Stones keeper determined not to relive FA Cup humiliation

JONATHAN North insists the lessons of 2011 have been learned and Wealdstone will not be ripe for another FA Cup giant-killing on Saturday.

Two years ago, the Stones were dumped out 2-0 at home in the first qualifying round by a Beaconsfield SYCOB team who had finished bottom of the Southern League Division One Central only a few months earlier.

On Saturday, Stones will be expected to steamroller Kings Langley, who play three levels below them in Spartan South Midlands Division One, again at home in the first qualifying round.

But keeper North, one of four survivors at Grosvenor Vale from that SYCOB humiliation, warned against any complacency.

He said: “I think we approached that game against Beaconsfield the wrong way and went into the game with the wrong attitude – and we all know what happened then. It’s the FA Cup, and anything can happen.

“It’s a very different Wealdstone side now, but there are a lot of senior lads who have been on the wrong end of a cup upset at some stage in their careers and won’t want another on their CVs, so we will be making sure we’re all in the right frame of mind.”

Stones go into the game sitting on top of the Ryman Premier following Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw at promotion rivals AFC Hornchurch, despite the disappointment of conceding an injury time leveller.

Chris Moore’s early strike put Stones ahead, but deep into stoppage time, Ade Yusuff’s speculative effort was deflected past a helpless North.

“It’s one of those that happened in slow motion – I was already going the other way,” North said. “It’s disappointing to lose two points in that fashion, but it’s a result we would have taken before the start, and I’m sure we will look back at the end of the season and see it as a good point – you could see what it meant to Hornchurch.”

Tuesday’s draw followed a 1-0 win at Bury Town last Saturday, Tom Pett scoring the only goal of the game for Stones.

Meanwhile, Waseem Idies earned Wembley Park a 1-1 draw with Stedfast in their Middlesex County League Division Two debut on Saturday, while the reserves hammered St Lawrence reserves 6-2, thanks to a Mark Taylor hat-trick, a goal apiece from Craig Matthews and David Roberts, and an OG.