Stevenage midfielder Dean Campbell says the final minutes of their famous FA Cup victory over Aston Villa were “a bit of a whirlwind”.
Sent on as a substitute with less than half an hour to go, he was fouled for the equalising goal at Villa Park and then scored the winner.
It was Campbell’s first for Boro – and only the second goal of his career.
“It’s an incredible feeling personally, but for the whole squad as well,” he told BBC Three Counties Radio.
“We won a corner and I was kind of at the edge of the box. I heard the gaffer screaming, as he does, ‘go get the ball’ – and when I got the ball I took a good touch, saw I had space and just thought I’d have a go, focus on my technique, get it on target and it just snuck in at the front post.
“It was a good strike. I knew there were a lot of bodies in the way so I had to keep it down, I got a good connection and I saw it go in – it was just elation after that.”
Loan signing Campbell, 21, scored his only previous goal for parent club Aberdeen in a 2-1 Scottish Premiership victory at Livingston in December 2018.
And his immediate concern after beating Villa goalkeeper Robin Olsen was to provide a suitable goal celebration.
“First thing I thought was ‘get the knee slide right’, which was my first one in football and I think I managed to do all right with that,” he said.
“The noise from the brilliant travelling fans was incredible and the celebrations at the end were exceptional.”
He added: “The gaffer has put together a brilliant dressing room. They are top guys and really good footballers so it’s been a successful season so far. We’ve got to enjoy this one and keep pushing towards our ultimate goal, which is promotion.”
The win over Premier League opponents was not the first notable cup achievement for veteran manager Steve Evans.
He guided Crawley to round five of the FA Cup in 2010-11 before losing 1-0 at Manchester United and took Leeds United, then in the Championship, to the same stage five years later.
Earlier this season, League Two side Boro won 2-1 at Championship side Reading on their way to the third round of the Carabao Cup.
Evans believes the fitness of his squad was crucial to the dramatic late turnaround against Villa.
“As soon as we equalised, they go to 10 men and there was a different mindset in the Aston Villa players – some of them were playing 90 minutes for the first time in a little while, so they get tired,” he said.
“We’re incredibly fit and I think we showed a bit of desire and hunger… but we had to work so hard out of possession to restrict gifted players to minimal opportunities to hurt us.
“We stayed in the game but as soon as we equalised, I thought we’d win.”
