The familiar London Stadium rush for the exit has never been so misjudged. A lot of West Ham fans decided they had seen enough when Dominic Calvert-Lewin put Leeds 2-0 up and within touching distance of a first FA Cup semi-final since 1987, but how wrong they were. The non-believers reckoned without their side forcing extra time and were not allowed back in to see a ridiculous game go the distance.
It ended with Finlay Herrick, a 20-year-old goalkeeper whose experience of senior football extended no further than 10 games during a loan spell with National League side Boreham Wood earlier this season, coming on for his West Ham debut after Alphonse Areola went off injured just before penalties. Talk about a baptism of fire. Herrick is West Ham’s No 3 goalkeeper and it seemed he was about to steal the headlines when he opened the shootout by saving a tame effort from Joël Piroe.
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