Ex-Newcastle forward Nile Ranger gave non-league Kettering Town an incredible shock FA Cup win over League One Northampton Town.
Kettering, who play in the Southern League Premier Division (four divisions below League One) claimed a famous 2-1 win at Sixfields in what is easily the biggest shock of the first round of this season’s competition.
And the winner was scored by a man who’s played at the top level in England in Ranger who nodded the ball home following a corner from the left in the early moments in extra time.
Kettering went on to win the tie 2-1 with The Poppies man Luca Miller’s equaliser after an own goal by Connor Johnson seeing the match finish 1-1 at the end of the 90.
But the headlines belong to Ranger, who has 26 Premier League appearances with Newcastle to his name.
He’s also represented Swindon, Blackpool and Southend United in the Football League, as well as having loan spells at Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday.
His promising career failed to get going with the 33-year-old forward later dropping down to non league having played for Spalding United and Boreham Wood before joining Kettering in September.
Ranger, who represented England at under-19s level, has had a career plagued by disciplinary issues with the player serving an eight-month prison sentence in January 2017 for online banking fraud.
London-born Ranger insists he’s a reformed character now and concedes he wasted the talent he was blessed with earlier in his career.
He believes that he’d be playing at a significantly higher level if he made better decisions when he was younger.
In an interview with The Athletic last year, Ranger said: “I should be minimum Championship right now. I shouldn’t be having problems but I didn’t listen.
“If I added nutrition to my game and behaviour, I’m Erling Haaland.
“But I didn’t want to listen. I thought I knew it all.
“Every club I’ve had, even as an adult, my mum has had to come in – because they respect her – to see if it could work as a last throw of the dice.
“She is my life coach, she’s probably disappointed deep down I didn’t really go higher – but she always says: ‘Listen, we had a blast, no matter what’.”
The magic of the Cup has been in swing this weekend with other cupsets happening across the ties.
On Friday night, National League Tamworth got the better of League One Huddersfield with a 1-0 win.
Elsewhere, National League Dagenham and Redbridge beat League Two Crewe Alexandra and Wealdstone defeated League Two Grimsby Town.
