Sunday, 25th January 2004.4th Round FA Cup Match: Cobblers vs Man Utd. I have to say first of all that I was there. Let me be clear it's nice to be able to say things like that to be honest. I sat in B175 in the West Stand of Sixfields Stadium and felt a shiver in my body from the atmosphere as the two teams came out of the tunnel. The crowd of 7,300 ish was nothing of the reported sell out crowd as I had seven empty seats near me. The match for want of a better word was breathtaking, the worlds best: Alex Ferguson's Manchester United against us The Cobblers of Divison three in a money spinning 4th round tie - great! The match was being broadcast live by Sky Sports and you could argue that the Manchester team was a bit second string of players but it took nothing away from the atmosphere that threatened to lift off the top of the roof of the West Stand. Even the penalty awarded in barely the first few moments of the match against us, was saved by the most excellent Ian Harper in goal. This not only brought the crowd to deafening shouting of support for the local side, but also gave to me a glimpse of the possible upset that is the FA Cup tradition. The cries of "Forlan takes it up the a***" were heard as he missed the penalty and the match went on with quite frankly the Cobblers showing superb football as if they had been plucked out of their skin and the worlds best had replaced them at times. The football I personally witnessed at times tells me that we are not Third division in the skill level and showed Manchester United that we can play. The team held out for over half an hour until a mix up in defence lead to the shambles of mucky example of a goal for the opposition that meant the team went into half time 1-0 down. To go in one-nil down was superb I think. The rafters cheered the team back after the break and the team settled into surprising Manchester with some shots on goal until a freak cross was accidentally poked home into our net by Chris Hargeaves to give them a 2-0 lead. A few substitutions later and we still looked in the game and wanting to win. Sitting in that seat, watching the game, I felt proud to be a supporter of Northampton as the team were fully supported right through to the end. Even losing did not dampen the spirit of the side even when Diego Forlan showed why he was so dangerous in the air to make it 3-0. Some scrappy shots later and a few dodgy off-sides, I was proud to be able to watch a game that will not only go down in history for the team, but for me at having been there in my life cheering the side as they finished the game and headed back in to conclude one of the greatest matches for the local side I've seen to be honest. | 
