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LIVERPOOL FC: LIVERPOOL 5-2 HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE

/noticias.info/ LFC 5-2 HAVANT: THE REPORT

For 55 minutes this afternoon, the football world was turned on its head as the plasterers and binmen of Havant and Waterlooville cut the world beaters of Liverpool down to size.

The Blue Square Premier outfit twice took the lead during a bizarre first half in which the Reds' usually-watertight defence sprung a leak.

Rafa Benitez doubtless wished he had a plumber in his side when Richard Pacquette headed home on nine minutes.

Lucas equalised with his first goal in English football on 27 minutes before another unlikely twist. This time Martin Skrtel, making his full debut, deflected home an Alfie Potter shot.

It took Liverpool and Yossi Benayoun until the stroke of half-time to restore parity and some sense of pride. On second thoughts, best put the latter on ice.

That had to wait until the second half when two more goals from Benayoun and one from Peter Crouch saw off what would have been the most embarrassing upset in the FA Cup's long and illustrious history.
So, Merseyside is where the journey ends for Havant, while Liverpool will be hoping for a less eventful occasion in the fifth round. At least the visiting players, who two hours before kick-off could be seen walking out of the tunnel with wide eyes and video cameras, have memories of one of the competition's all-time great occasions to savour. Not to mention an appearance on Match of the Day.

Not that the BBC could do justice to what the 42,566 supporters present at Anfield witnessed today.

It's a cliché, but there was magic in the air in this part of the north-west on Saturday afternoon. As Benitez pointed out earlier in the week, only in England, only in the FA Cup, could you get plumbers and gas engineers pitting their wits against some of the best players European football has to offer.

A sight to behold, certainly. As was the view of the Anfield Road end as the first chimes of You'll Never Walk Alone echoed around the stadium. The visiting fans stood en masse, held their scarves aloft and sang their hearts out. This was the closest they'd ever been to the famous Kop and by God they were going to enjoy it.

And some. On nine minutes their fervour turned to unbridled jubilation when an unmarked Pacquette headed home from the second of two early corners.

'Que Sera Sera,' they sang, 'we're going to Wem-ber-ly'. You had to smile - it was nearly as surreal as the decision not to televise this game.

Ten minutes later Shaun Wilkinson tried a cheeky overhead kick in the Liverpool box, missing the ball completely before falling on his backside. His embarrassment wasn't a hundredth of that which would have engulfed Anfield had Neil Sharp's volley found the back of the net on 23 minutes following some comic defending.

Then, for a few moments, it seemed as if a touch of reality was going to be restored. With 27 minutes on the clock Lucas curled home his first Liverpool goal from 20 yards. The Kop breathed a collective sigh of relief.

We all knew what was coming next. How could it go any other way? A rout would surely ensue. But Alfie Potter, the only professional on Havant's books, hadn't read the script.

On 31 minutes he took advantage of yet more slapdash defending to restore the non-leaguers' lead. Sky Sports interpreted a deflection from Skrtel to be an own goal, a mean-spirited call to say the least.

From there Crouch squandered a gilt-edged chance to make it 2-2 and Liverpool had to wait until 44 minutes to level the scores when Pennant cut inside before feeding Benayoun in the box.

The Israeli took a single touch before swerving beyond Kevin Scriven in the Havant goal. Anfield hardly flinched.

There was marginally more celebration when Benayoun at last gave the hosts a lead on 56 minutes, this time lashing a Pennant cross into the top corner from close-range.

Goliath had at last put David in his place, it seemed.

Three minutes later Liverpool's number 11 notched up his second hat-trick of the season when Scriven could only parry a fierce drive from Ryan Babel.

Their dream was crumbling before their eyes, but the travelling fans didn't seem to care a jot. Once again they stood en masse and in a gesture of immense goodwill chanted 'Stand up if you hate Man Utd'. Anfield was most definitely amused.

Crouch then put an unjust gloss on the result in the dying moments with a tap-in from within the six-yard box.

Liverpool are in the fifth round, but this was Havant's day. No question.
UK users should stay logged on to .tv for highlights of this game on Sunday morning

Teams

Liverpool: Itandje, Riise, Hyypia (c), Skrtel, Finnan, Benayoun, Leiva, Mascherano, Pennant, Babel, Crouch. Subs - Carragher, Gerrard, Kuyt, Martin, Torres

Havant & Waterlooville: Scriven, Warner, Jordan, Wilkinson, Smith, Sharp, Collins (c), Harkin, Potter, Baptiste, Pacquette. Subs - Gregory, Oatway, Slabber, Taggart, Taylor

Referee: Unavailable

Conditions:

Attendance: Unavailable

Liverpoolfc.tv Man-of-the-Match: Benayoun
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