Havant hero Scriven has stars in his eyes

The team from the Blue Square South hope to begin selling tickets for their FA Cup fourth round tie at Anfield on January 26 from the ageing green double decker bus that bizarrely acts as the Hawks' box office on Friday morning.

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Yes, it really is happening after Havant's stunning 4-2 victory over League One leaders Swansea at Westleigh Park on Wednesday and the queues for the 6,000 tickets will snake their way around the housing estate that separates the stadium from the town centre.

Perhaps club secretary Trevor Brock should test supporters on their knowledge before he issues them with a prized ticket for the Anfield Road End.

'Who is the Havant & Waterlooville left back?' Anyone in the western world knows that it is Brett Poate, who will be suspended from the fourth round tie against Liverpool after he was sent off at Swansea.

He set up three of the Hawks' goals on Wednesday.

'How many league games have the Hawks lost in the Blue Square South this season?' could be another.

Any self-respecting Havant supporter will instantly reply: 'Seven.'

Crucially, they are unbeaten in the FA Cup and the players are still staring at the £1,000-a-man win bonus that was offered to them in the dressing room before they ran out 4-2 winners over Swansea.

They are already dreaming of their big day out at Anfield. Brock said: 'We're taking 6,000 tickets. Looking at all the figures we could take half a million pounds plus £250-300,000 worth of add-ons.'

There is even far-fetched talk of holding Britain's most successful club to a draw at Anfield then bringing them back to Westleigh Park.

Non-league Hereford did it when they drew at Newcastle in 1972 before Ronnie Radford's remarkable strike helped to send Malcolm MacDonald and his team-mates crashing out of the FA Cup at Edgar Street.

Havant goalkeeper Kevin Scriven was back at work yesterday, lumping bricks around for his father's property company in Ropley, Hampshire, and he is misty-eyed at the prospect of another upset.

Scriven, who saved Leon Britton's first-half penalty on Wednesday, said: 'We would like to think we could get a draw up at Anfield and bring them back to our place.

'To draw at Swansea and then beat them at home is a dream, but now we are going to Anfield it all seems like a bit of a blur.'

They are already familiar with the big names — Gerrard, Carragher, Crouch, Torres and Riise — and their mind-boggling salaries dwarf those of Havant's have-a-go heroes.

Scriven, who began his career at Bournemouth before he was released as a teenager, said: 'Some of their players are on £50,000 a week and that is double what I earn in a year. My dad and I would have to develop an awful lot of properties to earn that sort of money.

'This is the biggest high of our careers, but money cannot give you the feeling that this win has given us. Nothing will compare with what we have achieved by beating Swansea.

'It would be amazing to play against the likes of Gerrard and Torres. I was watching the replay between Liverpool and Luton on Tuesday night, but when it got to 56 minutes the television froze.

'By then they were 2-0 up and when I saw the result at the end they had scored another three, so perhaps it was just as well I didn't watch it all.'

Most of the Havant team were back in their blue collars yesterday, but boss Shaun Gale had his best suit on for an untimely trip to Soho Square.

Gale was accompanied by Brock and chairman Marcus Hackney for a disciplinary hearing that was unrelated to their FA Cup run, but the club have escaped with a stern rebuke.

It leaves them free to concentrate on their tie at Anfield. After that, it's next stop Vegas for these remarkable men after chairman Hackney promised to pay for an end-of-season trip for the team.

'We'll be going — just as soon as they get their passports sorted out,' joked goalscorer Tom Jordan.

Just like the trip to Anfield, it will be a first for all of them.

WATERLOOVILLE WONDERS

KEVIN SCRIVEN, 23

Position: Goalkeeper Occupation: Labourer at his dad's property company

JUSTIN GREGORY, 31

Position: Defender Occupation: Physiotherapy student

BRETT POATE, 24

Position: Defender Occupation: Plasterer

JAY SMITH, 26

Position: Defender Occupation: Surveyor

PHIL WARNER, 28

Position: Defender Occupation: Van driver

MO HARKIN, 28 Position: Midfielder Occupation: Heating engineer

CHARLIE OATWAY, 34

Position: Midfielder Occupation: Assistant coach/Brighton community representative

JAMIE COLLINS (captain), 23

Position: Midfielder Occupation: Community football coach

ALFIE POTTER, 19

Position: Midfielder Occupation: Professional (on loan from Peterborough)

ROCKY BAPTISTE, 25

Position: Striker Occupation: Doing 'The Knowledge' to become a cabbie

RICHARD PACQUETTE, 24

Position: Striker Occupation: Mediator in a school