FA Cup: Eastleigh 1-3 Newport County – Exiles set up fourth-round tie against Manchester United

Newport County set up an FA Cup fourth-round tie against Manchester United after winning 3-1 at Eastleigh.

Paul McCallum drew the National League side level after 48 minutes, beating Nick Townsend with a half volley.

Newport defender James Clarke headed the visitors back ahead on the hour mark before the League Two side sealed the win through top scorer Will Evans.

Television coverage means reaching the fourth round will be worth some £400,000 to Newport, who welcome 12-time FA Cup winners Manchester United to Rodney Parade on Sunday, 28 January.

County have caused many cup shocks at Rodney Parade in recent years, including wins against Leicester City and Middlesbrough and a draw with Tottenham Hotspur.

The Exiles also pushed Manchester City in south Wales in the FA Cup fifth round back in 2019, trailing 2-1 in the 88th minute before conceding twice more late on in a 4-1 loss.

This was billed as the biggest game in Eastleigh’s history, but it was Newport who made a fast start in Hampshire.

After struggling to break down 10-man Eastleigh when the sides met at Rodney Parade two weeks ago, Newport wasted no time at Silverlake Stadium.

A long ball from Newport goalkeeper Townsend was worked into the Eastleigh box, and as Evans fell to the ground looking for a penalty Wildig picked up the ball and rounded McDonnell to score after just three minutes.

After going into half-time trailing, it took Eastleigh just three second half minutes to draw level.

The Newport defence failed to deal with a simple long ball, and National League top scorer McCallum caught Townsend out of position to fire a half volley home.

Unlike when the sides met at Rodney Parade, Newport responded well to Eastleigh’s equaliser, and Clarke’s back-post header from Shane McLoughlin’s corner restored their lead on the hour mark.

Eastleigh went in search of another equaliser, but Will Evans’ left-foot shot snuck under McDonnell at the near post to put Newport two goals ahead with 11 minutes to play.

Newsportual League side threw everything at Newport in the final minutes but could not find a way back into the game as the Exiles booked their place in the fourth round.