Ex-Sunderland, Crystal Palace and Leeds United striker talks FA Cup wonder goal

Wickham scored 15 goals in 91 appearances during a four-year stay at the Stadium of Light before moving on to Crystal Palace in a reported £7m deal in 2015. After spells with Preston North End and Milton Keynes Dons, the striker signed a short-term deal with Forest Green earlier this season and he certainly made his mark on his return to the North East.

The striker had already opened the scoring with a well-taken header on the half-hour mark but could only watch on as a South Shields side managed by Sunderland legend Kevin Phillips dominated the second-half and threatened to force a replay.

But Wickham ended those thoughts when he beat home goalkeeper Myles Boney from all of 45 yards in the final seconds of the game before receiving applause from all four corners of a sold-out 1st Cloud Arena. Speaking after the game, the former Black Cats frontman revealed he had kept a close eye on the Mariners number one’s positioning throughout the game and took his opportunity to produce a memorable strike.

He told The Echo: “I’ve wanted to try it for a few weeks and throughout the whole game I could see the goalkeeper off his line.

“As soon as Kyle (McAllister) got the ball, I thought I’m turning and shooting because I was on my own. You know, it’s one of those, I could probably do 100 of those and it won’t go in. But today, thankfully, it’s gone in, so I’m not going to complain.

“I’ll take it, I meant it and nobody can say it’s a fluke.”

South Shields will hope to bounce back from their FA Cup exit when they host Northern Premier League Premier Division title rivals Hyde United on Tuesday night.