Fearon's amazing FA Cup hat-trick inside five minutes for AFC Mansfield
An amazing hat-trick inside five minutes by striker Ollie Fearon sent AFC Mansfield into the First Qualifying Round of the Emirates FA Cup.
The Bulls had fallen behind in the 65th minute away to Leicestershire outfit Quorn, but Fearon’s heroics between the 74th and 78th minutes earned them a 3-1 victory and a home tie against fellow Nottinghamshire outfit Dunkirk on Saturday, September 2.
Proud manager Rudy Funk said: “Teams will find this year that we don’t give up. We respond positively to the situation and keep going until the final whistle.”
Amarvir Sandhu it was who broke the deadlock for Quorn, slipping the ball under advancing goalkeeper Jamie Green. But nine minutes later, Fearn smashed home an equaliser after a peach of a ball by Liam Marsden and a neat little turn in the box by midfielder Phil Buxton.
You barely had time to catch your breath before Fearon was at it again. Buxton sent him racing into the box and he turned his marker to curl a sublime effort round the ‘keeper.
Moments later, a mazy run by Jimmy Ghaichem took him into the area for a pull-back that found Matty Plummer, whose drive was parried by Quorn’s former Premier League goalkeeper Russell Hoult. The ball fell to the feet of man-of-the-match Fearon, who fired home for his treble.
Although goalless, the first hour had not been without chances. Fearon always looked dangerous, while Hoult pulled off some fine saves.