Warrington boss proud of non-league side's battle
Warrington manager Shaun Reid hailed his side's battling qualities after seeing them dig deep to see off Exeter and book a spot in the FA Cup second round draw.
Craig Robinson was the hero for Warrington as he scored the game's only goal after seven minutes but Reid refused to single out individuals after a heroic second-half defensive showing.
"I am proud because you go a long time in your career and I have played a lot of games at the lower level but these nights are what football's about, they don't come along a lot and I have just had two in a fortnight," he said.
"I was thinking about going home and putting my slippers on and having an early night. However I have been talked in to going out and there is every chance you could see me in every bar in town tonight.
"I slept for two minutes last night. How can you sleep? It's the FA Cup.
"You can't explain (how I feel) because it is what kids dream about and I have always dreamt about it.
"My brother (Peter Reid) won it, I took a team who are in the eighth tier to the second round of the FA Cup - there are no words to describe that. It is the pinnacle of my career.
"Peter's left me a message; he watched it all the way through which is great. I will give him a call later on. I don't think my chairman will be too happy with my phone bill next week but who cares."
The brother of MK Dons manager Karl Robinson, Craig, was first to meet captain and former Liverpool player David Mannix's corner on seven minutes with a deflected near-post header and it proved to be the key moment in the game.
Warrington deserved the lead at the break but David Noble should have equalised when he met Liam Sercombe's low cross shortly before half-time but he rattled the crossbar.
With 15 minutes remaining, Matt Grimes thought he had the equaliser but his effort was heroically scooped off the line by Phil Davies.
Exeter manager Paul Tisdale said: "I feel bitterly disappointed we lost. Warrington got an early goal and hung on.
"I'm not ashamed with the way the team played at all. We played quite well but that's the FA Cup. There's no embarrassment at all about losing today.
"It's just the way it is, it doesn't feel very nice but I'm philosophical about it. That's what this cup competition is about and you have to be wary of it at all times.
"The game is about goals; they scored more than us tonight and that's the only statistic that matters. It's a cup completion and they've won the tie.
"It's a big day for them and I don't want to take anything away from them. We played well and they beat us so well done to them."