Bristol Rovers took care of business in the FA Cup on Saturday, advancing to the second round with a 1-0 win over Rochdale at the Mem. Meanwhile, two dozen miles east on the M4, another Gas player was involved in one of the shocks of the round as Chippenham Town beat League One Lincoln City.
Harvey Greenslade, an 18-year-old academy product from Chipping Sodbury who has spent more than 10 years with the Gas and signed his first professional contract earlier this year, is on loan at the National League South side until January.
And the forward played a big part, offering fresh legs up front after being subbed on after an hour at Hardenhuish Park. The Bluebirds were leading 1-0 thanks to an inspired backheel finish by Joe Hanks in the first half and with Greenslade and his teammates leaving everything they had on the pitch, the sixth-tier side kept a clean sheet and dumped out a side 78 places ahead of them in the pyramid.
That win took Chippenham to the second round for the first time in their 149-year history and a trip to League One Burton Albion is the reward. Greenslade loved every moment of Saturday's historic win and he wants to make more memories in the next round.
"Coming on, I knew I would have a job to do defensively," he recalled. "I don’t think I was expecting to have much of the ball. There was a bit of pressure, knowing we were playing a good League One team and we had to get behind the ball and defend with everything we had.
"It was a good test and it was another chance to prove I can play against a League One team. It was weird because I wasn’t that nervous, I was more focused more than anything, but after the game you realise, ‘Oh my god, we just beat a League One team’.
"They didn’t really have many chances. They had a few corners and a couple of chances, but other than that I think we held our own. Considering they are an established League One side, I thought they would have had more chances, but that just goes to show how well we played as a team.
"We did soak up a lot of pressure but we also had a fair few chances ourselves. We hit the bar a couple of times and we had chances to go ahead by more near the end.
"For the first couple of seconds (after the final whistle), I was a bit shocked and then you realise. You start to go a bit crazy so I ran over to the fans and started celebrating with them. It was a great experience and one I definitely want to experience again in my career.
"It’s great to have a memory like this already and I think it’s only going to push me on to experience it more. Now I know what it feels like, I want to experience that again.
"One of my goals is to experience that with Rovers and I think I am in a good place at the moment and if I keep working hard and I keep proving to people that I can play at these sort of levels, then hopefully I can experience that with Rovers and it would be a dream."
Chippenham, managed by Gary Horgan, have had a tough time in the league of late, but he will hope their FA Cup heroics spark an upturn in form. It is a team with many connections to Rovers, including Saturday's midfield duo of Tom Mehew and Luke Russe – both products of Rovers' academy that made it to first-team level before being released.
They will travel to the Pirelli Stadium on the weekend of November 26 hoping to make more history. "I can’t wait," Greenslade said. "I was on the bench when Rovers played there earlier in the season and it looked good. Out of all the teams we could have got, Burton was one of the ones we were looking for.
"Obviously, it would have been nice to have got a Portsmouth or a Sheffield Wednesday, but Burton will be another hard test. But as people saw in the last round, we’re capable of doing it. I honestly believe we can get into the third round and the players believe that, too."
Greenslade is not the only professional player in his family. Whisper it quietly, but twin sister Lily is a striker on Bristol City's books, albeit she is on loan at Plymouth Argyle this season.
The difference in employer, Harvey says, has not led to any rifts in the house, and he believes having his sister on the same journey as him is an aid for both of their development. After all, how many of us can hone our footballing skills with a fellow professional at the local park?
"Lily was there (on Saturday)," he said. "She was stood behind a couple of rows and she couldn’t see, she’s only small, but at the end, she had her phone out and she was videoing me. She loves supporting and it’s really nice to have someone come to your games and support you like she does. I try to do that with her as well.
"No matter who she’s playing for, I’ll always wish her the best. It’s good to have a sister who plays, it helps in pre-season when you’ve just got each other.
"We’re both footballers and it’s quite easy to have a good kickabout. If you go out with your mates and a couple of them aren’t the best, but when I go with my sister I get something out of it.
"We play two-touch, we’ve got a net we put up on the goal. We take our own net to the park or we play two-touch or shoot against each other for hours. It’s fun."
Who is the best striker in the Greenslade household? "It’s definitely me," Harvey insists. "She’s good, but it’s me."
The 18-year-old has already made his Rovers debut, playing as a substitute in the 1-1 Papa John's Trophy draw at Plymouth Argyle in September. He also featured regularly in pre-season – scoring against Melksham – and has been training with Rovers' first team since the spring after catching the eye of manager Joey Barton.
That evening left Greenslade with mixed feelings. Making his debut was rightly a cause for pride, but he was one of the unfortunate men to miss a penalty in the bonus-point shootout. But that said a lot about his character; what he lacks in experience he does not lack in confidence, a vital trait for a striker, and he won't stop putting his hand up for penalties in the future.
"We did some penalty practice in the morning and I stuck one top bins and the whole day I was thinking about it going to penalties and I fancied myself taking one," he added.
"At the end of the game, I had just made my senior debut, but I wanted to take one. I don’t think we had an input, I think they had it written down. I saw my name and I did fancy myself.
"Obviously, the penalty could have gone better. It was a good save, I think, but it’s something I won’t let it affect me in the future. Next time, if an opportunity comes around again, I will be ready to take one.
"You can only learn from it and speaking to the skip (Paul Coutts) after the game, he said ‘You know what it’s like now and next time you will know what to do, smash it a bit harder’. I laughed, but next time I know what the experience is like missing one and I want to know what it’s like scoring one."
Greenslade's stint with Chippenham is not his first loan. He spent time with Tuffley Rovers, Cinderford Town and Tiverton Town last season, but the National League South is a significant step up in level. He is yet to score in the league, although he's registered a few assists and he played his part in the FA Cup run by scoring in the win over Sholing in the second qualifying round.
The forward believes the experience he is gaining on loan is accelerating his improvement.
"I had a couple of loans last season and I think I did well, but this is a new test," he said. "Stepping into it, it was very physical and it’s a very challenging league.
"It’s a real test and I think the physical side is helping my game. Having to deal with all these 6ft-plus defenders weekly instead of playing 23s games, they aren’t as strong or physical.
"It’s good to test myself and keep playing games. I’m still young and I know there are things that I need to work on, but even when I do train people at Rovers are helping me through, like John Marquis.
"I need to keep working as hard as I can and showing people I am getting better every game and I hope it will work out."
In the short term, Greenslade is dreaming of another FA Cup upset, but further into the future he has his sights set on breaking through at the Mem.
He concluded: "It would mean a lot. I’ve been at Rovers since under-sevens. Every single year, I’ve loved playing with them and I’ve loved it more every year it’s gone on.
"It’s always been a dream of mine to get a professional contract here, so already that is enough for me, but if I was to make more appearances in the future it would mean a lot. It’s something I’ve been hoping for since I was a kid.
"It’s great being in and around it, but hopefully, in the future I can break in."
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