FA Cup 2015-16 Results: 1st-Round Scores from Sunday's Fixtures
Didcot Town's FA Cup 2015-16 hopes came crashing down on Sunday, but several other lower-league clubs registered impressive upsets during the first-round proper, with Whitehawk beating Lincoln City 5-3 and Chesham United shocking Bristol Rovers 1-0.
Brackley Town earned a replay with Newport County with a 2-2 draw, and Aldershot Town did the same with a scoreless draw against Bradford City. Here's a look at the full results from Sunday:
| Didcot Town | 0-3 | Exeter City |
| Aldershot Town | 0-0 | Bradford City |
| Brackley Town | 2-2 | Newport County |
| Braintree Town | 1-1 | Oxford United |
| Bristol Rovers | 0-1 | Chesham United |
| Gainsborough | 0-1 | Shrewsbury Town |
| Halifax Town | 0-4 | Wycombe Wanderers |
| Maidstone | 0-1 | Yeovil Town |
| Whitehawk | 5-3 | Lincoln |
| Port Vale | 1-1 | Maidenhead United |
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Recap
Didcot's clash with League Two Exeter City was chosen as the FA Cup game of the day, but the Southern League Division One South & West side couldn't keep their Cinderella run going, losing 3-0 after a spirited performance.
The Railwaymen were the lowest-ranked team remaining in the FA Cup and fought bravely in the first half, but former Republic of Ireland international Clinton Morrison gave Exeter the lead just after half-time. Tom Nichols and Alex Nicholls struck twice within five minutes to secure the win for the visitors.
Didcot can only be proud of their surprising run and showing on Sunday, and Exeter treated their hosts to a well-deserved guard of honour after the match, per BT Sport Football:
Exeter hadn't won an FA Cup match since 2009, and manager Paul Tisdale was just glad to see his men advance to the next round, relayed by the FA's official website:
"It was about winning today and getting through. We had the experience of last year which wasn’t a great thing to have on our recent results.
Hopefully the players used that experience in the game today and it was about making sure it didn’t happen again.
The players were pragmatic about their approach today and we didn’t over-do it with loose thinking, we went in very sternly. We earned it today.
"
While Didcot couldn't pull off another upset, there were still plenty of surprises to be found. Few fans will have gone home happier than those of Whitehawk, who got to witness an absolute goal fest that ended in their team beating Lincoln City 5-3.
Footballer-turned-pundit Adam Virgo thought it must have been some match:
"Seems like a boring game at Whitehawk
— Adam Virgo (@Adamvirgs19) November 8, 2015"
Matthew Rhead scored a hat-trick for the visitors, but it wasn't enough, with Sam Deering scoring a late goal from the penalty spot to put the match away. The final minutes were some of the craziest the FA Cup has seen in recent history, with Deering and Rhead both scoring and the Imps' Alan Power receiving a straight red card.
The visiting fans were understandably upset with Lincoln's performance, and as shared by this fan, they made their frustrations known after the final goal:
Ryan Blake scored the only goal in Chesham United's win over Bristol City—good enough to beat the League Two side on their own turf. The Pirates had plenty of chances to grab the lead in the first half but failed to convert, and as so often happens in the FA Cup, those misses came back to haunt them.
Blake's low shot should have been a routine save for on-loan goalkeeper Lee Nicholls, but the 23-year-old let the ball slide under him.
Opta's Duncan Alexander was one of many to congratulate the visitors:
Ben Williams kept Bradford City's FA Cup hopes alive with a number of key saves in the scoreless draw against Aldershot Town, and they'll need to improve drastically heading for the replay to have any chance of matching last year's magical run to the quarter-finals.
The same goes for Newport County of League Two, who gave up a two-goal lead at Brackley Town of the National League North and will now be forced into a replay.
Yeovil Town somehow beat Maidstone United 1-0 despite finishing the match with nine players. Jakub Sokolik was sent off after just eight minutes, and when Artur Krysiak joined him on the sidelines for the final half-hour, the visitors' chances seemed doomed. Wes Fogden's 55th-minute goal sufficed for the win, however, sending the League Two side into the next round.
