(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Danny Cowley called it life-changing and did not mean the upheaval to his plans for Saturday evening. Instead of watching North Ferriby United on the banks of the Humber, it was off to the Match of the Day studios in Salford for the Lincoln City manager, his brother Nicky, and their families after the stunning defeat of Burnley.
For the architects of one of English football's finest achievements, recognition will not end there. Lives are changed and careers are made by the continued allure of the FA Cup.
Lincoln City, FA Cup quarter-finalists. The Cowleys' preparations for the fifth-round tie were meticulous, their players performed with confidence befitting league leaders and the gameplan unfolded to perfection, but they had difficulty allowing their accomplishment to sink in. Almost two hours after Sean Raggett's header crossed the line and time froze before the referee, Graham Scott, pointed to the centre circle, Lincoln's players could be seen shaking their heads in disbelief aboard the team coach.
Cowley was in a daze as he sought out a BBC man to ask about a lift to Salford. Nicky, his assistant, was still enraptured at meeting Michael Owen. 'We've been looking for a forward like him, he remarked. 'And he does well in FA Cup finals doesn't he? Lincoln are two more seismic shocks from asking Owen for advice.
Beating Burnley and becoming the first non-league team to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals in 103 years may be the pinnacle for Lincoln, so far at least, but it also represents another reward for the 20-hour days put in by the Cowley brothers in their first full-time jobs in football.
While working part-time at Concord Rangers in Canvey Island, the pair won three promotions and three trophies before joining Braintree Town, whom they led to third in the National League and the play-offs.
Their success at Lincoln top of the National League and also in the last eight of the FA Trophy attracted the interest of Notts County and Grimsby Town before the Imps chairman, Bob Dorrian, made the astute move of extending their contracts until 2021.
He may be deflecting more calls in the coming months. Despite a clean-shaven appearance on Match of the Day on Saturday, the Cowleys still found time to watch two North Ferriby games before more TV-guest slots on Sunday morning. Taking Lincoln back into the Football League is the primary objective.
As the manager said: 'I had a load of television invites which I had parked to concentrate on the game but now I'm going through them. We love Match of the Day. We've had a lot of invites and options including going to Wolves v Chelsea then going back up to Blackburn v Manchester United but nothing is going to get in the way of watching North Ferriby. Nicky and I owe it to the boys.
'Being promoted into the Football League can change our lives so we owe it to them to put the same amount of focus into North Ferriby as we did against Burnley. We'll watch three 90-minute matches of their most recent games. That is the detail. We like to watch them together and banter off each other.
Detail underpinned a deserved defeat of Sean Dyche's side, who were careless in possession and lost their composure not only in the face of Matthew Rhead's physicality but also when being outplayed midway through the second half.
Joey Barton epitomised the loss of control. Lincoln had worked on set pieces, on the idea that a right-footed left-back Jon Flanagan would reduce Burnley's attacking intent to 65% of the pitch and on the notion that the Premier League side would be uncomfortable with the favourites' tag. Correct on every count.
'The plan when we took the role was to get the team in the top 10, said Cowley.
'Things have gone well but the games are coming thick and fast now. That doesn't worry me but in terms of the challenge of players' workloads, we are going to have to be really intelligent about planning and training. The amount of games we have to play now is going to make it really tough but we have a hard-working, resilient, durable group and every time a challenge has presented itself we have found a way to overcome it. We will find a way.
And a way to Wembley, with the national stadium only one win away? Cowley is not getting carried away.
'In our first ever season at Concord we got to the Vase semi-finals a game away from Wembley but came up short, he said. 'Last year at Braintree we got to the play-offs as a part-time team. Twenty minutes from the end we were winning 1-0 but just came up short over two legs. We have come close before so we won't look beyond the last eight but you never know in football.
'Who would have thought as a non-league team starting out in the fourth qualifying round that we would have got this far? Who, indeed?
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