TOMMY'S GOT SHOTS HITTING RIGHT NOTES

ALDERSHOT CELEBRATE A FAMOUS FA CUP VICTORY

- Matt Badcock

T'S a little more than 12 hours since Tommy Widdrington walked his back through front door after getting home from Aldershot Town's FA Cup triumph and he's back on the road.

"It's our annual Christmas Carol service in a local church," the Shots boss tells The NLP.

Will he be in fine voice? "I'll try but my voice is a bit croaky after last night as I was getting a little anxious towards the end of the game," he laughs.

The fans who made the long trip to Stockport County on Wednesday night were likely a little hoarse the next day too.

Olly Scott's 88th-minute winner fired the Hampshire outfit into the FA Cup third round proper for the first time since 2012-13 and only the third time in club history.

"The ball goes in the box, there were seven challenges - and we win every one," Widdrington says of the scrambled goal. "And that tells you that, in the 88th minute, my lads weren't happy just to see the game out and draw.

"I didn't even know who had scored at the time but I watched the game back this morning and he caught it really well- he needed to.

"We've scored a lot of late goals this season. A few times we've been behind when we've needed them, thankfully on this occasion one goal was enough.

"The goalscorer, rightly, gets a bit more of the adulation but everyone who played is a credit to themselves. I asked them to be the best version of themselves that they could be. I knew we'd need to be that to be in the game, never mind win the game." A trip to Championship outfit West Bromwich Albion awaits on January 7.

For now it's back to the National League, where the Shots find themselves in the play-off race, ahead of a busy schedule that includes back-to-back games over Christmas with fierce rivals Woking.