Newport Pagnell FA Vase win 'surreal', says assistant boss Gary Chance
- Published
Newport Pagnell play in the United Counties League
Newport Pagnell assistant manager Gary Chance said his side's FA Vase triumph at Wembley will take several days to "sink in".
The Swans beat fellow ninth-tier club Littlehampton 3-0 on Sunday to lift the trophy for the first time.
"I think they're still trying to take it in," Chance told BBC Three Counties Radio.
"It's still surreal. I think it'll sink in - like all the previous rounds - over the next couple of days."
Newport Pagnell's win was sealed after two goals from Ben Shepherd following Kieran Barnes' 19th-minute opener, and Chance said his players were left stunned by what they had achieved.
"I can see in their eyes they're overjoyed but still trying to take it all in thinking 'how have we done this?'
"To play at Wembley for players at our level is unbelievable - it's a one-off," he added.
The Swans' victory came after eight dramatic qualifying rounds that included late goals and three nerve-jangling penalty shootouts.
Reflecting on their run, Chance said he felt his side got what they deserved.
"It's small margins," he said. "When it goes national, you know nothing about the level of the teams and you need a bit of luck.
"We got a little bit of luck - some last-minute goals and penalty shootouts are a bit of a lottery but you earn your luck - and in all cup runs you need to be good."
Dealing with Wembley 'wow' factor was key
Newport Pagnell's celebrations were watched by 7,000 fans at Wembley and Chance said he was determined to make sure his players were not overawed by the pressure of the occasion.
"We came to Wembley on Thursday which helped in our prep," he said. "It helped get the 'wow' factor of being at Wembley out of our system - we thought that was important in our prep.
"We think we got our prep exactly right - we had some tough games against full-time academy teams. I personally had gone to watch Littlehampton so I knew what they were about.
"Without sounding overconfident or arrogant - and it's easy after we've just won - we were very quietly confident."
Kieran Barnes' glorious half-volley put Newport Pagnell 1-0 up
'I can die a happy man'
The Swans were put on their way to the memorable victory by Barnes' strike - a brilliant left-footed effort into the top corner from the edge of the box.
It was a goal worthy of any final at Wembley and the midfielder said it will live with him forever.
"It was an unbelievable moment," Barnes said. "When it left my foot I thought 'this is going over' - just my luck because I've done that a few times this season. But as soon as I saw the keeper stretch his arm out I knew it was going in. As soon as it hit the back of the net - the emotions were crazy.
"I've had so many messages. I don't know how I'm going to look through them - they're going to have to wait a week.
"Everyone dreams winning at Wembley as a kid - and I've done it. I can always say I played at Wembley and scored. I can die a happy man.
"I'll be watching that goal back every minute, every hour."
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