TEN-MAN Chester booked their spot in the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup with a 1-0 replay win against Stockton Town.
The Blues, who played almost the entire 90 minutes a player down, saw Harrison Burke score, which was enough to secure a trip to fellow National League North side Scarborough Athletic in the next round.
Connell Rawlinson, the Blues’ hero thanks to his last minute equaliser in Saturday’s original tie, was on the pitch for just three minutes of the replay. He was sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
Kurt Willoughby went close midway through the second half as he hit the post. Six minutes later and it was 1-0. Declan Weeks crossed for Burke to head in.
Meanwhile, an extra £2.44million in prize money is being awarded in the first three rounds of this season’s FA Cup to help compensate clubs for the loss of replays.
The Football Association announced in April it was scrapping replays from the first round proper in the current season onwards as the domestic game seeks to tackle fixture congestion created by the expansion of international tournaments such as UEFA’s competitions.
The FA insisted at the time that it would seek to compensate clubs for the loss of revenue generated by replays, which have been a traditional mainstay of the competition. Figures show there will be an extra £760,000 of prize money available in round one, £560,000 in round two and £1.12million in round three, with fees also being paid to losing clubs for the first time.
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