LAMAR REYNOLDS has become English football’s most famous minibus driver.
Less than 24 hours after playing a huge part in one of the truly magnificent FA Cup shocks, Reynolds was back at work — ferrying around young adults with autism for a day of activities in East London.
The fact Reynolds, 28, often also has to work on some midweek matchdays was a timely reminder of the enormous gulf between Maidstone of National League South and Ipswich.
Town are second in the Championship and with hopes of promotion to the Premier League under bright young manager Kieran McKenna.
With 22 of the 24 National League clubs now professional, you have to dip down to tier six to find the traditional non-league players who have to work to top up their part-time wages.
TV companies have been rightly criticised this season for ignoring some of the smaller clubs in the FA Cup.
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But the BBC were rewarded for sending their cameras to Portman Road as Maidstone became the first club from their level to reach the fifth round since Blyth Spartans in 1978.
And they will visit another Championship side next after being drawn to face Sheffield Wednesday or Coventry — who face a replay after drawing 1-1 on Friday.
Reynolds — a summer arrival at Maidstone from Braintree — had not even scored a goal this season before putting his team ahead just before half-time with a superb chip.
Knowing he was due a heroes’ reception when reporting to work yesterday, he said: “I work for a company that provides social support work. It is called Links Support Solutions in Gants Hill.
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“I work there once or twice a week. I am a driver. If we have a game on a Tuesday I will probably do it in the mornings.
“They are young adults with autism so I take them to events like live wrestling, maybe a basketball game.
“They are just young local lads and a lot of them will have watched this game.
“At Maidstone, a lot of the players do football coaching as jobs while a few have their own little business.”
But boss George Elokobi was not going to have any of his players using that as an excuse.
Reynolds added: “Our gaffer put it in our heads that we had to believe. Anything can happen and you can see that in the FA Cup. Playing a tough team like Ipswich, Premier League-bound, our belief was still strong.
“I work there once or twice a week. I am a driver. If we have a game on a Tuesday I will probably do it in the mornings.”
Lamar Reynolds
“Before the game, the boss spoke about believing and trusting in each other, knowing we are all capable of winning the game. We did the analysis and the belief was there.”
Stones keeper Lucas Covolan made some key saves to keep his team in it before Reynolds raced on to a pass from Liam Sole and delivered a sublime finish over home keeper Christian Walton.
Jeremy Sarmiento did level for Ipswich on 56 minutes but Stones showed major cajones ten minutes later as Reynolds set up Sam Corne’s winner.
Jamaica-born Reynolds has spent much of his career at Essex non-league clubs like Thurrock, Brentwood, Concord Rangers and Braintree before crossing the border into Kent with Maidstone.
And he said: “I would wait another ten seasons for a goal like that. It felt so special.
“It is funny as I share a room with Liam Sole on away trips and, when we spoke about the game on Friday, we said we would do an assist for one of us to score — and it happened.
“Now, we are in the round of 16. Who would have thought? It sounds ridiculous.”
Maidstone defender George Fowler, who started his career at Ipswich, said: “I was there from 12 to 19 but never got to walk out in a first-team game. I was very proud to do that here. My friends and family all still live around here.”
As for Ipswich, after a hugely impressive season, they are suffering a bit of a wobble.
They have now just won two of their last nine games.
Midfielder Sam Morsy said: “There was not much to like about our performance.
“We had 38 shots and if you don’t score more than one goal, the game will be in the balance.
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“It hurts. We must be better. The day belonged to them and it’s an incredible achievement. They will always remember it.
“But we felt deflated and we felt that we let the fans down.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
