FA Cup chaos reshapes the National League North calendar

Nothing concentrated the mind in the National League North last week quite like the Emirates FA Cup third qualifying round, and nowhere was it stranger than at the Beehive. Harborough Town trailed St Albans City with six minutes left, led in the 98th minute, were pegged back in the 100th, and won it in the 101st, Dempsey Arlott-John completing a perfect hat-trick — left foot, header, right foot — in front of 1,092 people. "The fans deserve that. That was brilliant, that's what football is about," manager Mitch Austin said afterwards, before adding of his substitute: "He won us the game, he put us into the next round." It is a third successive season in which the Bees have reached the fourth qualifying round, and they will host Spennymoor Town on 17 October.

Spennymoor arrive on the back of a 4-1 win over Chester at the Brewery Field, Danny Johnson scoring a hat-trick and Glen Taylor marking his 450th appearance for the club with a goal — a milestone Rob Ramshaw reached only weeks earlier. It was also a first match in charge for Peter Hartley and assistant Ryan Cresswell.

Macclesfield needed two late Paul Dawson strikes to draw 2-2 with Scarborough Athletic in front of 1,782, forcing a replay on the Yorkshire coast, with a home tie against Anstey Nomads awaiting the winner. Elsewhere there were wins for Morecambe, 3-0 against Darlington, Marine over Warrington Town, Chorley 4-1 at Barton Town with a brace from Max Hunt, South Shields 2-0 at Buxton and Oxford City against Enfield Town. Brackley Town and Worksop Town went out, the latter beaten 3-0 at home by FC United of Manchester.

The knock-on effect is considerable. League fixtures scheduled for 17 October involving Chester, Spennymoor, Morecambe, Hereford, Harborough, South Shields, Oxford City and Macclesfield have all been postponed, with Chorley's trip to Bedford Town also to be rearranged.

Away from the cup, Radcliffe appointed Grant Shenton as first-team manager on a two-year deal, with Mark Dickinson as his assistant. "Opportunities like this don't come around that often," Shenton said. Southport confirmed Mark Duffy permanently, bringing in Craig Noone alongside him, while Oxford City signed Fernando Forestieri subject to international clearance and Harborough named Ricky Marheineke as Director of Football.