A goal at last for Micah

Last updated : 10 November 2009 By Tony Scholes
Micah Hyde
Micah Hyde - first goal in 173 games
Now captain of League Two Barnet, Micah has never been a prolific goalscorer but over the past five years or so those goals have virtually dried up since he netted on his Burnley debut against Sheffield United on the opening day of the 2004/05 season.

There was just one more Burnley goal and it is one that will be forever remembered by those Burnley fans who saw it, coming in the FA Cup replay against Blackburn Rovers in March 2005.

Since then, not a solitary goal for Micah until he got the second in Barnet's 3-1 win over Darlington this weekend. Incredibly it has taken him no less than 173 games to get that goal since he scored at Ewood for the Clarets.

It might not have been a crucial goal for Micah but certainly the other two ex-Burnley scorers grabbed vital goals for their clubs. Steve Jones got the only goal of the game as Walsall beat Stourbridge and it was the same for Gareth Taylor whose late goal saw Wrexham go through at the expense of Lowestoft at the Racecourse.

Of the other eighteen, no less than eleven of them were winners. Three winning teams featured two ex Burnley players. Both Marc Pugh and Keith Lowe were in the Hereford side that beat Sutton 2-0.

Ade Akinbiyi and Delroy Facey helped Notts County to a 2-1 win against Bradford City with Facey coming on as a late substitute, and Andy Marriott was in goal for Exeter who won 4-0 at Nuneaton. Exeter also had Richard Duffy on the bench.

Marriott recently made his Football League debut for Exeter after spending all of last season and the early part of this season as a substitute. He enjoyed a clean sheet on Saturday but his football supporting son wasn't there to see it, he was watching Burnley take a point at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Other winners were Wayne Thomas who was in defence for Southampton, 3-2 winners at Bristol Rovers, Paul McVeigh who played in Norwich's 7-0 win at Paulton, Nathan Abbey in goal for Rushden & Diamonds who beat Hinckley 3-1 and Luke Chadwick who played in Franchise's 1-0 win against Macclesfield.

The only other winner was John Mullin who was an unused substitute for Accrington who beat Salisbury 2-1 at the Crown Ground.

The losers were Graham Coughlan as Staines won 1-0 at Shrewsbury, Drissa Diallo for Cheltenham who went down 3-1 at Torquay and Dean Bowditch who was a substitute in Yeovil's 3-1 loss at Oxford although wasn't used.

That leaves four players looking for success in two replays. Craig Armstrong was an unused substitute for Mansfield who drew 1-1 at Forest Green and it was the same 1-1 scoreline for Tranmere at home to Leyton Orient. Whilst Ian Thomas-Moore sat the entire match out on the bench both Alan Mahon and Michael Ricketts played the full ninety minutes for the struggling Wirral club.