SAINTS' 1976 Wembley hero Nick Holmes masterminded Salisbury City's shock 4-3 FA Cup win at Havant & Waterlooville on Saturday - and then rubbished rumours that he is on his way out of the Wiltshire club.
Speculation was rife on the fans' internet forum last week that Holmes, who left his business and family behind in America last summer to follow his dream of managing the Whites, was on the verge of quitting.
But after watching 20-year-old substitute Darren Crook settle a second-half goal feast at Westleigh Park, Holmes insisted: "It's a load of rubbish. I love it here. All we want to do is play football."
The gossips went into overdrive when Holmes paid a flying visit back to the States a fortnight ago and missed out on the second qualifying round replay at Westbury United.
But he clarified: "The last thing I wanted to do was to miss that game, but I had to go back and see to the business in America for a week.
"It's an unusual situation that I'm over here while my family's over there, but I'm fortunate that I've got a missus who lets me do it. My wife Carolyn and I have been together 20-odd years and we have a good understanding.
"The schooling in America has been excellent for my son, Nicholas, and we didn't want to take him out of that.
"I don't like talking about my family because it's a private thing. I tell you what though," he smiled, "I wish they'd been here today because they'd have loved it!"
No one could possibly have imagined the drama that lay ahead when Havant, on a run of one defeat in nine games, took the lead after just four minutes with a crisp volley from last season's Dr Martens Premier golden boot winner James Taylor.
But for all their flowing first-half football, the Hawks failed to go for the jugular and were let down by poor defending in the 34th minute when Saints Academy product Brett Poate allowed Gary Funnell's cross to run past him and John Purches drove the ball in hard and low from the right for Wayne Turk to turn home.
Havant remained more pleasing on the eye and when David Town ran from deep to collect Chukki Eribenne's sweet pass and neatly round keeper Kevin Sawyer on 59 minutes, it looked as if Premier class would tell against mid-table Eastern Division opposition.
The FA Cup, though, thrives on tales of the unexpected and, whereas Bognor Regis had caved in 4-0 against the Hawks in the last round, there was no soft underbelly to the Salisbury City performance.
On 71 minutes Whites substitute Aaron Turner headed on Michael Cooper's free kick for Turk to hook home his second leveller of the afternoon, sparking a rush of three goals in five minutes.
Another substitute, Stuart James, got in on the act when he crossed for Josh Thomas to glance Salisbury into the lead for the first time, but their joy lasted only a matter of seconds as Taylor restored parity at the other end, heading home Poate's corner.
With defending almost a lost art, Eribenne cut in dangerously from the left and curled an effort just over the bar and then Gary Funnell's fierce free kick at the other end was deflected out for a corner.
The tie could have swung either way and in the 86th minute Salisbury's super subs struck again with Turner heading down for Crook to sweep home the £5,000 winner.
There was still time for two nears misses by Eribenne and a goalline clearance by Purches from Taylor, but it just wasn't Havant's day.
Hawks' co-bosses Mick Jenkins and Liam Daish left the players in no doubt about their displeasure
Emerging stoney-faced from the dressing room post mortem, Jenkins said: "We weren't right from start to finish today. We were very complacent.
"Salisbury worked harder than us and you've got to give them credit for coming here and scoring four goals. Not many teams do that and good luck to them in the next round.
"We've told our players it's unacceptable to concede four at home. If you do that, you don't deserve to be in the FA Cup. This is a reality check for us."
Holmes admitted: "Havant are technically better than us, but we worked very hard to close people down and in the end the result went our way.
"I know exactly how Mick Jenkins is feeling. This time last week we were the pits against Clevedon in the Trophy.
"But that's football for you. You've got to savour days like this and hate the others. The only common denomenator is about three pints of beer!"
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