Two teams from different worlds collided to remind us why we love the FA Cup so much, writes OLIVER HOLT as Premier League Spurs need extra-time to beat part-time Tamworth

There was a problem before kick-off. It was the kind of problem that anyone who has played in the Sunday league at any level in this country, perhaps on a cold day on a bobble pitch, with the players hungover from the night before, perhaps, when no one had the right place could find. they might have recognized keys to the changing rooms.

The problem was with the net. A button had come loose and when the linesman saw it, the kick-off was postponed. “Then I got the shout from Haydn,” Beck-Ray Enoru said afterwards about his centre-back teammate. “He told me to come and jump on his back.”

And so Enoru climbed onto the back of Haydn Hollis in front of the 4,000 supporters crammed into the ramshackle stadium, while millions watched on television and a bewildered team of Spurs internationals jogged up and down to keep warm, dangling from the crossbar and fixed the knot and then jumped down and ran to the center line.

Sixty seconds later, Enoru, who works as a salesman in the Zara store in Leicester and was probably the best player on the pitch, had powered past Radu Dragusin, skinned Pedro Porro and made a fine save from new Spurs goalkeeping hero Antonin Kinsky.

And everyone remembered again why they love the FA Cup so much and why any more step-by-step betrayal by the governing body and the Premier League must be fought at all costs.

Tamworth, who are 96 places below Tottenham in the English football pyramid and languishing in 16th place in the fifth tier of the National League, were the better side in the first half and much of the second half and deserved the draw with to be taken in extension.

In previous years that would have earned them a repeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and a windfall of almost £1 million, a transformative sum for a club that is one of the few teams to remain in the competition on a part-time basis. National League. The FA ruined that prospect by canceling replays.

But that’s enough whining. There was no opportunity for carping on Sunday afternoon at the Lamb Ground. It was an occasion that celebrated the richness of English football. Not the financial wealth of the top flight, but the sheer depth of our national sport and the intensity of support for clubs far removed from the Premier League.

Tamworth, whose manager, Andy Peaks, gave up his job as a learning support teacher at a local college last week because money from the FA Cup run allowed the club to employ him full-time, gave it his all and Spurs found it difficult to keep their to counter the threat.

Not just the long throws of midfielder Tom Tonks, but the pace and trickery of Enoru and the muscularity of striker Dan Creaney, who, in the old language of the game, was adept at letting the Spurs defenders know that he there was.

The Tamworth fans also played their part. The loudest of the home crowd, crammed into The Shed behind the dugouts, serenaded Ange Postecoglou with chants of “You’re getting fired tomorrow morning” virtually from kick-off, hammering the blue corrugated iron that protected them. of the bitter wind with all their might to create a terrible din.

Spurs, who defeated league leaders Liverpool in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final last week, struggled to make any impression on the part-timers until James Maddison forced a decent save from Jas Singh after half an hour.

The townspeople were unaccustomed to exertion, but they were completely lacking in inspiration. After the break, Timo Werner proved that he could also miss one-on-one against National League teams. Singh saved from him with an outstretched leg when the German striker should have scored.

Werner also had a header cleared off the line, after fine work from Mikey Moore on the left, but in the final minute of the six added at the end of the second half, a Dominic Solanke slip presented the ball to Jordan Cullinane-Liburd.

Cullinane-Liburd beautifully created space for himself by dragging the ball under his foot and fooling a defender, but as glory beckoned his shot at goal was blocked by Yves Bissouma. Tamworth came so close to one of the biggest shocks in FA Cup history. “Can we play against you every week?” sang the Tamworth fans.

But their threat disappeared in extra time. Postecoglou decided to bring in his best players to avoid the looming embarrassment of a massive third-round kill, a development that did not escape the Tamworth faithful.

‘How s*** do you have to be?’ sang the Shed Choir. “We’re only part-time.” However, substitutes Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski immediately made the difference and their quality shone through.

The breakthrough came eleven minutes into the first half of extra time when Maddison orchestrated a clever free-kick that eliminated the home side. He passed to Brennan Johnson and when his cross looked destined to be tapped in by Solanke, Nathan Tshikuna accidentally guided the ball past Singh.

Kulusevski added a fine second with a low left-foot cross, after a typically clever pass from Son and Johson wrapped things up with a crisp, curling snapshot two minutes from the end. It is to the credit of the Spurs players that there was no wild celebration when they scored. They had no desire to taunt their out-of-league rivals.

Spurs had not played well. In normal times they were clearly ordinary. They were lucky to escape with a draw. But they also deserve some credit, in part because they didn’t lose their nerve and their wits and pulled off a win that puts them in the next round.

And partly because they were busy with the class all afternoon. They had walked through the crowd to get to their dressing room before kick-off and Postecoglou joked and laughed with the home fans, looking very much like he was enjoying the test his players were facing.

And when the match was over, the Spurs players distinguished themselves with the time they gave to the home fans. Archie Gray, a young man who is becoming increasingly impressive both on and off the pitch, took off both boots and presented them to young Tamworth fans. Maddison and Kulusevski posed for photos and signed jerseys as they walked back to their team coach in the twilight.

Spurs play Arsenal at The Emirates in the North London derby on Wednesday. Tamworth play Boldmere St Michael’s in the Birmingham Senior Cup the same evening before facing Boston United at home in a relegation game on Saturday.

No word yet on whether Spurs chairman Daniel Levy enjoyed his pie and chips in the makeshift Tamworth catering area at the back of the 518-seater main stand, but in their hospitality to visitors and their performances on the pitch, Tamworth rose to the occasion.

The two teams return to their separate worlds, but for one afternoon at the Lamb Ground, the FA Cup brought them together in a glorious clash.