Magpies stunned

14th February 1981
FA Cup 5th Round
Newcastle United 1-1 Exeter City 

EXETER grabbed a sensational 84th minute equaliser through defender Lee Roberts to take Newcastle back to Devon for Wednesday's FA Cup replay.

And the Third Division side must stand a great chance now of reaching the quarter finals for the first time in 50 years. Certainly Newcastle can have few complaints about the result. Ironically they conceded the equaliser when the man of the match Bruce Halliday made his only mistake of the match which allowed Lee Roberts to scoop the ball over the top of keeper Kevin Carr. Earlier it seemed that little Alan Shoulder had emerged from the shadows. Shoulder, a 32nd minute substitute for the injured Bobby Shinton, put United ahead 12 minutes into the second half. Although he was the smallest man on the field it was Shoulder who got up well to head in a cross from Nigel Walker. It was a tremendous come back for Shoulder who was back in action for the first time after being dropped on Boxing Day. In contrast little was seen of Exeter's much vaunted striker Tony Kellow, the leader scorer in the country with 25 goals. Much of the credit for this must go to Halliday, who kept Kellow in check. But then came Halliday's mistake and now United cannot fancy the 740 mile round trip to Devon.

Result-Newcastle Utd. 1, Exeter 1.

Attendance- 37420

Match Report 2 
from the Sunday Mirror.
By JOE CUMMINGS

EXETER LEAP WITH LEE!

A LAST-GASP equaliser by Exeter defender Lee Roberts had his team- mates disco dancing with joy on the St. James's Park pitch. The small fry West Country elub had snatched a deserved replay on Wednesday night. And Roberts was only playing because Jimmy Giles, who was included in the party, refused to travel, Ironically it was a similar story with Newcastle boss Arthur Cox who had brought Alan Shoulder and Nigel Walker out of the wilderness, and between them they conjured up the second-half goal that looked like putting he Geordies into the FA Cup sixth round. Walker, out since October, provided a brilliant chip and Shoulder, absent since December, placed his header perfectly. The goals were the special events in what was otherwise a battle sadly lacking in sparkle. There was a thundering roar from United's 37,000 fans after only three minutes when Stuart Boam thrashed the ball into the Exeter net. But it was disallowed and the silence that followed lasted for 20 minutes because there nothing to shout about. That was when Boam went close again his header being cleared off the line by John Delve. It was who Exeter who produced the best move of the match. Peter Rogers got away on the right. Rogers perfect cross reached Peter Hatch but his powerful header flashed inches wide of the post. The backlash to that was Shoulder's goal, yet it didn't demoralise Exeter.  The Third Division side kept battle and were unlucky not to benefit from a 40-yard blast by Hatch. He was left holding his head in his hands as Kevin Carr brilliantly tipped the ball over the bar. There were only five minutes to go when Roberts came up with his stunning equaliser. It came from a Hatch throw-in that he hooked high into the far corner of United's net.

Now Exeter's Cup dance lives on.

Man of the Match: Lee Roberts