Bizarre own goal sees Tamworth shock Huddersfield in FA Cup first round after 35-yard free-kick causes mayhem

Non-league Tamworth produced a major shock in the FA Cup on Friday night, knocking out Huddersfield Town thanks to a bizarre own goal.

Tamworth’s players are part-time and the Staffordshire club are 57 places below Huddersfield in the English football pyramid.

But the League One promotion hopefuls – who were in the Premier League as recently as 2019 – suffered a humiliating 1-0 defeat in front of a fired-up crowd of 3,533.

The only goal of the game came just before half-time when Huddersfield goalkeeper Chris Maxwell accidentally knocked the ball into his own net from close range.

Maxwell’s injury came as he tried to clear the ball following a remarkable 35-yard throw from Tom Tonks.

According to the laws of the game, a player is not allowed to score directly from a throw-in.

Friday’s match was broadcast live on BBC Two and several viewers were quick to point out that if Maxwell had simply let the ball pass him instead of trying to intervene, then the goal would have been disallowed .

Reacting on X (formerly Twitter), one fan wrote: “Terrible goalkeeping should have let him in without touching him.”

Another asked: “Why didn’t the keeper just leave it?

In Maxwell’s defence, his six yard box was very crowded. Therefore, it would have been difficult for him to be sure that the ball would have gone straight in before being touched by another player.

Regardless of the bizarre nature of his side’s winning goal, Tamworth manager Andy Peaks was delighted with the result and his side’s performance.

Speaking on television after the game, Peaks said: “We handled the game really well. Brilliant. We felt that when we got the ball we had to keep it and not give it back immediately because they are good on the ball.

“It was more important to keep good form and be hard to break.

“We knew we were going to be a layup threat and we were. The key was to have good form and not rush things. We didn’t have to win it in the first 20 minutes and we didn’t want to get out of it in the first 20 minutes.

“Most games are decided in the box and we try to be good in those areas with the first and second ball – and we were.

– I mixed well. We had to be strong on the spine and the spine was strong.

“I just wanted to be competitive and not be embarrassed on national television.

“But I’m so proud of everyone.” We have such a strong backbone for the team. I never want a team of individuals, I want a team.

Huddersfield boss Michael Duff said: “We weren’t good enough. We deserved to be beaten. They outplayed us and the goal came from a threat we knew about.

“I picked a strong team, prepared properly and warned the players.

“If we had started the first minute the way we played from the 80th minute onwards, we would have been fine. But we waited too long to have any answer and we deserve to be kicked out of the Cup.

“We started the game on the back foot, we invited them, we invited the crowd into it and it’s hard to get it back.

“I scored a bad goal. It’s a long throw, but we weren’t good enough.