Newport County striker Padraig Amond is ready to underline his status as an FA Cup goalscoring great this evening.
Amond has already eclipsed a host of legendary strikers with his scoring sequence in the competitions and has just one more epic No.9 left in his sights.
County’s Irish goal machine has overtaken Jackie Milburn and Nat Lofthouse, drawn level with Jeff Astle and Peter Osgood, and now only the great Stan Mortensen is ahead of him.
Amond will lead the line for the Exiles in the FA Cup second round at Maldon and Tiptree tonight (Friday) and as well as hoping to push his side into the third round for the third season in a row, he will also be looking to score in an eighth successive round for the League Two club.
There are 12 players in the history of the tournament who scored in every round of the competition, including the final, and West Brom’s Astle and Chelsea’s Osgood also added an extra goal in the third round of the following season.
Amond is currently on a ‘Magnificent Seven’ with them and will be seeking to have an eighth tonight against the Essex-based non-league outfit.
If he can do that, and County go through, then he will get a shot at joining Blackpool and England legend Mortensen on nine successive rounds.
“Podge has scored in seven rounds in a row and he doesn’t stop telling me. It’s getting a bit boring now, although I really hope he can make it eight and we can win,” said County boos Michael Flynn.
“It is an extraordinary stat for a club of our stature. He is a fantastic professional with a good goal scoring record for us and I can’t speak highly enough of him.
“We’ve been successful for a team of our stature in the last two years in the FA Cup and we want to do it again. What we have done to teams can easily happen to us and I have to make sure we are really on it.”
While everything has been going well in cup competitions for the Exiles, their recent league form has dipped. They went down to their third successive league defeat last weekend at home to Oldham Athletic and need to find a way to restore some confidence.
Maldon and Tiptree also lost last weekend, but for only the second time in 25 games this season, one of which was in a penalty shoot-out.
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The game is live on TV and Flynn knows that the cameras are going to Maldon Stadium for a reason, especially after they beat Leyton Orient in the last round.
“It is a case of the hunters being hunted. Once you have a taste of it you want more and the cameras are going there expecting an upset,” said Flynn.
“The FA Cup money is vital for a club like Newport. Before the Spurs game a few seasons ago we were struggling to pay the wages. It can get that bad.
“The money we earned form the cup that season gave us a bit of leeway and last season’s run allowed us to plan and move forward. The reason we aren’t struggling now is because of our cup runs and we know how important this game is for Newport County.”
PADRAIG AMOND’S FA CUP GOALSCORING RECORD
2019/20
Rd 1: Grimsby Town 1-1 Newport County (Pen)
Newport County 2-1 Grimsby Town (Goal)
2018/19
Rd 5: Newport County 1-4 man City (Goal)
Rd 4: Middlesbrough 1-1 Newport County
Newport County 2-0 Middlesbrough (Goal)
Rd 3: Newport County 2-1 Leicester City (Goal)
Rd 2: Wrexham 0-0 Newport County
Newport County 4-0 Wrexham (Goal)
Rd 1: Met Police 0-2 Newport County (Goal
2017/18
Rd 4: Tottenham 2-0 Newport County
Newport County 1-1 Tottenham (Goal)