In wishing Neil Gibson and the boys all the very best at Slough Town this afternoon, we wind up our selection of previous FA Cup first round ties involving the Robins by turning the clock back to November 23rd 1981.

Altrincham 3 Sheffield United 0

This was yet another example of Alty making Cup giantkilling look easy, rather than the fraught, nerve-jangling affair it tends to be for most underdogs.

The Robins may have needed the second of John Rogers' two goals in the dying minutes to force a replay after the opening encounter ended in a 2-2 draw at Bramall Lane the previous Saturday.

But, in front of a raucous Moss Lane crowd of 5,137, there was nothing remotely close or hard-fought about the second meeting as the Robins breezed through to the second round with an irresistible display of free-flowing attacking football.

While there were bitter recriminations in the Blades' camp over the manner of their fall at what for them was the first hurdle, Alty fans in attendance could only marvel at the way Tony Sanders' side turned on the style and swept the opposition aside.

Graham Heathcote provided arguably the highlight of the night with a stunning 30-yard thunderbolt of a strike, though Barry Howard was perhaps the most significant contributor overall for the way he not only tormented his marker but scored Alty's other two goals.

Barry had many an opposing defender in his pocket over the years, but it was no ordinary, run-of-the-mill full-back he was up against on this particular evening. It was none other than former Manchester United favourite Stewart Houston, a mainstay of the celebrated Tommy Docherty team of the 70s but no match for the Alty winger's wizardry.

Barry gave the Blades' vastly-experienced left-back the runaround all evening and capped a virtuoso performance with a scoring double that included an unforgettable solo effort in which he weaved his way past three defenders before drilling a low shot into the bottom corner.

Ian Porterfield's side went on to win promotion from the old Fourth Division as champions, but there was no escaping the wrath of their fans that night, or their local media.

The Sheffield Star's Blades correspondent Tony Pritchett was in the press box at Moss Lane to cover the match, and, in his column in the Green 'Un sports paper the following Saturday, he wrote: "United suffered a terrible mauling, an acute embarrassment that will take a long time to forget and forgive."

Tony also wrote that, before kick-off, he bumped into York City manager Barry Lyons, whose side awaited the winners at home in the second round, and Barry was quoted as telling him: "You'll win this easy tonight and then we shall beat you at York."

It didn't quite work out that way. Not only was it Alty who headed for York, but we prevailed 4-3 in a replay, after drawing 0-0 at Bootham Crescent, before finally bowing out against Burnley at Turf Moor in the third round.