Vadaine Oliver came off the bench to score twice in extra time as non-league Lincoln City knocked League One Walsall out of the FA Cup on 13 November 2012.
City had already come close to winning the first-round tie at Sincil Bank ten days earlier. Alan Power struck the bar before Jamie Taylor turned Andy Butler and chipped David Grof in first-half stoppage time. We were still ahead with only a few minutes to play when George Bowerman got on the end of a Richard Taundry throw to head Walsall level.
The replay brought together two sides whose recent form gave a rather different impression from the two divisions between them. The Imps had beaten Braintree Town 3-0 and won 2-1 at Barrow since the first meeting, with Power and Oliver getting the goals at Holker Street to take our unbeaten run to eight matches. Walsall were ten games without a win, and their 2-0 home defeat to Swindon Town the previous Saturday had left them three points above the League One relegation zone. The replay was Dean Smith’s 100th match in charge.
David Holdsworth kept the same starting XI for a fourth successive game and City gave the 348 travelling Imps, in a crowd of 1,762, something to get behind early on. Grof dropped a long Dan Gray throw and then let a header back from one of his own defenders slip away for another corner. Power had two efforts over the bar, while Paul Farman made the first save of the night from Mal Benning.
Walsall had their moments before the break, most notably when Jamie Paterson took advantage of Adam Smith losing possession and cut in from the right, only to fire wide. At the other end, Grof dropped a Power free-kick, Andrew Boyce’s follow-up was deflected behind and Taylor flicked a header wide from the resulting corner. The half ended goalless, but City’s deliveries into the box had already caused the home side problems.
Febian Brandy threatened twice in quick succession after the break. Farman came off his line to deny him the first time, and Brandy found the side netting with his next effort. Then Tom Miller cut out a Walsall attack and sent Power clear. Grof came out to narrow the angle, but Power put his finish past him in front of the away end to give City the lead in the 50th minute. The Saddlers appealed for offside, and they might have had a case.
City kept going forward after the goal. Jake Sheridan fired over at full stretch and later looked to be in down the flank until Grof raced out to clear. Walsall’s first corner came after we’d gone ahead, and as the home side began to get more of the ball in City’s half, Farman punched another delivery clear.
Holdsworth sent Oliver on for Smith with ten minutes of normal time left, but within a minute, Walsall were level. City failed to clear and Taundry drove a low shot past Farman from the edge of the box. Gray then took a knock and made way for Peter Bore, who headed away a free-kick in stoppage time before Ashley Hemmings shot wide with the last chance of the 90 minutes.
Adam Chambers volleyed over inside the first minute of extra time, and Grof gathered a Miller header at the other end. The breakthrough came in the 102nd minute, when Power and Sheridan linked up with the overlapping Bore to win a corner. Power delivered and Oliver powered his header into the corner of the net. It was his second headed goal in four days.
Butler headed wide at the back post as the Saddlers chased a second equaliser, and Farman blocked Aaron Williams’ effort in a crowded penalty area. It was Farman who started the move for City’s third, too. He gathered a long throw and kicked upfield, where James Chambers tried to head back to Grof. Oliver got between them and slid the ball past the keeper, picking up a booking for his celebrations.
There was still time for Walsall to make it uncomfortable. Peter Gilbert fouled Hemmings and Paterson’s free-kick took a deflection to beat Farman in stoppage time. The Imps had another couple of minutes to see out before the travelling fans could celebrate what the club’s report recorded as Lincoln’s first FA Cup win over a side two divisions higher.
The reward was a second-round tie with Mansfield Town. Power scored twice in a 3-3 draw at Sincil Bank, but a stoppage-time header from Matt Rhead forced another replay. Louis Briscoe scored the winner as Mansfield beat City 2-1 at Field Mill to earn a home tie against Liverpool.
For Smith, the run that stood at 11 games after the Lincoln defeat eventually reached 16. Walsall had let a two-goal lead slip against Yeovil Town a week before Christmas, but on 22 December Brandy scored the only goal against Colchester United. Four days later they won 4-2 at MK Dons, with Paterson adding the fourth in stoppage time.
Walsall made midfielder Sam Mantom’s loan from West Bromwich Albion permanent in January, and he opened the scoring in a 3-1 win that ended Bournemouth’s 15-match unbeaten league run. Walsall won four of their five league games that month, earning Smith the League One Manager of the Month award. The Saddlers then put together a 15-game unbeaten run of their own and finished ninth, six points short of the play-offs.
By March 2015, Smith had taken Walsall to Wembley for the first time in their history. They lost 2-0 to Bristol City in the Football League Trophy final, and when Smith left for Brentford that November, the Saddlers were fourth in League One.
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