Hollywood FC embarrass Forest’s extras before super subs make it a blockbuster FA Cup clash | OneFootball

You might have to get used to the millionaire actor owner references, because the sky well and truly is the limit for Wrexham.

Ally McCoist was in Dreamland. It was a Proper FA Cup Tie. What a way to start the FA Cup third-round weekend it was, Fletch. There was no VAR either, which nobody was complaining about!

It actually was a bloody fantastic game of football. The loud Darren Fletcher and even louder McCoist buoyantly bounced off one another. It was a truly incredible spectacle, as most of Wrexham’s televised games have been this season. Despite their incredible effort, Nottingham Forest almost pooped the party.

The Premier League side were bullied by their lower-league opponents in the first half – a necessary aspect of any Proper FA Cup Tie. But Sean Dyche brought on the cavalry at half-time. He had no choice. Neco Williams hasn’t missed a Premier League minute this season and wasn’t allowed more than 45 minutes of rest. England international Morgan Gibbs-White and Copa America winner Nicolas Dominguez were also introduced.

As expected, Forest grew into the game after the break and started to assert their dominance when the big boys came on for Sean Dyche’s extras. But they were 2-0 down and had a big ol’ job on.

When Igor Jesus halved the deficit, Wrexham didn’t wilt. They went again and scored a wonderful goal. The bus was hardly parked, but Forest threatened. A Callum Hudson-Odoi brace silenced the Racecourse Ground and sent us to extra time, with the result truly impossible to predict. No matter the outcome, this was Proper.

And Wrexham should’ve won it after Hudson-Odoi’s 90th-minute equaliser. With how relentlessly they were knocking on the door with the scores level, you’d be forgiven for backing the hosts as favourites with another 30 minutes on the clock.

The pace did drop. Barely. Penalties loomed. A stud popped the ball. There was an attempt from ‘Fletch’ to make Jay Rodriguez’s completely irrelevant goal record against Forest relevant. There was some top-class banter about the Player of the Match vote. And Sir Alf Ramsay was quoted.

After a breathtaking 120 minutes of FA Cup action, as most Hollywood fairytales would have it, the underdogs came through.

They started on a high, faced adversity, looked down and out, but rose above it all to prevail. Happily ever after isn’t exactly winning the FA Cup for Wrexham, but getting another Premier League team or two should do for Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

Omari Hutchinson was the villain for Forest. Arthur Okonkwo was the hero for Wrexham. As far as good old-fashioned FA Cup ties go, this was Proper. Proper Proper. Oh, the Magic of the FA Cup is alive and well.

Elsewhere in the FA Cup on Friday night, Wigan won at Preston, Port Vale beat Fleetwood, and MK Dons v Oxford also went to penalties, a shootout that Oxford won.