Havant's Jordan free from Anfield fever
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Your support makes all the difference.The lure of Anfield would turn most heads but not Tom Jordan. The man who scored Havant & Waterlooville's winning goal against Swansea City on Wednesday night, and set up the non-League club's FA Cup fourth-round tie at Liverpool, is thinking only of Eastleigh's Silverlake stadium.
Jordan was Havant's captain until November when Ian Baird, the club's then-manager, moved to Hampshire rivals Eastleigh, another mid-table Blue Square South club. Jordan asked to follow Baird and resigned the captaincy. He was subsequently omitted by new manager Shaun Gale. He had only just forced his way back into the squad when Wednesday's moment of glory arrived.
"I'm not going to be a hypocrite and change my mind because we have got to Anfield," Jordan said. "I do want to follow Ian Baird down the A27 and work with Eastleigh and I stand by that. Hopefully my performance against Swansea proves to the supporters here I do care about this club as well."
In an ideal world, I put it to him, he would move after Anfield. "In an ideal world yes, but we'll wait and see what happens. Whoever plays at Anfield, whether it is me or one of the other lads, deserves their day out and so do the supporters."
Jordan was back at work yesterday morning as a personal trainer. So were most of his team-mates, the couriers, plasterers, bin men and taxi drivers who make up these improbable giantkillers, the first team from below the Conference to reach the FA Cup fourth round since Woking, who lost 1-0 at Everton in 1991.
One man given the day off was goalkeeper Kevin Scriven, who made several key saves, including from Leon Brittan's penalty. "My dad, Barry, is a property developer and I help him," said the 23-year-old ex-Bournemouth trainee. "I do a bit of labouring. I help the brickies or the plasterers and do a bit of painting and decorating. Dad told me I didn't have to go to work if we won. He thought I might have a bit of a hangover."
Scriven added: "We would like to think we could get a draw up there, and bring them back to our place. But just to go up there and play is going to be unbelievable, a dream come true."
For Jordan, however, it is still not enough to forsake a move to Eastleigh.
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