YEADING boss Johnson Hippolyte is hopeful that his side's exploits in the FA Cup third round will have persuaded Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd to change his mind about the merits of grassroots football.

Shepherd courted controversy last month when he argued that the Premiership was the be all and end all of the game, and that anything outside the top-flight barely merited a second glance.

Yeading are about as far outside the top-flight as it is possible to get - 123 places below Newcastle to be exact - but the non-league minnows almost pulled off one of the greatest FA Cup upsets of all time yesterday.

They held the Magpies for 50 goalless minutes before eventually succumbing 2-0, and Johnson is confident their performance will have forced something of a re-think in the United boardroom.

"I would like to think that the chairman has changed his mind," said the Yeading boss, who was a player on the two previous occasions that the club had featured in the FA Cup.

"We put on a good show and we showed how much ability there is in the non-league game. Every week I see players who are good enough to play in the professional game but, for one reason or another, they seem to get overlooked.

"The football that we play is very, very important and games like this underline how strong teams like ours are.

"I'm hoping that Graeme Souness and Freddy Shepherd will think we put on a good show, and maybe they'll invite us up to St James' Park for a friendly in the summer.

"Playing against Newcastle was a dream come true for my players, but playing at St James' Park would be another one."

Yeading started the game as 25-1 outsiders but, for most of the first half, it was impossible to tell who were the Premiership superstars and who were the part-time painters.

Jean-Alain Boumsong might have cost £8m earlier this month, but he was still dumped on his backside by DJ Campbell, a warehouse courier whose £100 a week wages make him Yeading's highest earner by far.

The quality of Yeading's passing was a surprise to most, but Hippolyte was always confident that his side would approach the game in the right way.

"I've said all along that our technique would not be a problem," he said. "We've got players who like to play football.

"The problem was always going to be our fitness levels. My lads were always going to lose their legs in the second half of the game.

"They have full-time jobs and train two nights a week. They're never going to be able to keep up with lads that are pushing themselves to the limit every day.

"But, apart from that, I don't think there was an awful lot in it. I couldn't have asked for any more from them and they've made me proud. Apart from the birth of my children, this is the second proudest day of my life."

England boss Sven Goran Eriksson was there to witness Yeading's big day, and he will have left Loftus Road having been impressed by both Campbell and midfielder David Clarke.

He will also have noted Hippolyte's managerial nous and the Yeading boss, who supplements his footballing income with his job as a marble mason, has not given up hope of an international call.

"Somebody told me that Sven was at the game," he said. "I've heard that he's short of some coaches, so I'll have a bit of that! It might get me out of the marble game for a while.

"I can't take any of the credit though - it's all down to the players. It was always going to be a great day whatever happened. The money means we can improve the floodlights, build a new stand and get a training pitch for the under-11s through to the under-16s.

"But the way we played made it extra-special. I'll make sure the lads enjoy themselves tonight - but then we'll start concentrating on Saturday's game.

"We've got to go to Harrow, and that's more important than Newcastle now."

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