SHOULD minnows Paulton Rovers need any pointers ahead of their FA Cup first-round glamour tie against Norwich City, they could do worse than phone New Milton Town boss Andy Bye.

Southern League Division One South and West outfit Paulton, the lowest-ranked team left in this year’s competition, bagged themselves a date with ITV Sport on Saturday after pulling the Canaries out of the hat.

And Bye could be the man for a little calming advice, after a non-league career that boasted no fewer than five post qualifying round FA Cup appearances – including one live on TV for Farnborough Town against Fulham.

Bye’s defining cup moment came 15 years ago when Southern League Bashley were drawn against Division Two big-guns Swansea City in the second round proper.

But the uncompromising centre-half could also call upon a third-round tie at West Ham’s Upton Park for Farnborough, two games against Fulham (for Yeovil Town and Boro) and one first-round tie against Harry Redknapp’s Cherries when plying his trade for Fareham Town.

“Luckily for me, I had quite a few of those games,” recalls Bye.

“If you look at the teams Bashley faced during that particular run, we beat Havant & Waterlooville over two games then beat Cheltenham Town in a replay and beat Dorchester in a replay. We had some really big games, but we were so strong as a team and we never really felt that anyone would get the better of us.

“There was me, Staggy (Jeremy Stagg), Darren Powell and Jimmy Shepherd. We just had a good mix and didn’t really have many young, inexperienced players.

“Richie Paskins up front had pace and scored goals and you just felt, looking around the team, that we were going to beat people. The more it went on, the better it got.

“It was a really great time and everyone got into the spirit of it. We were unlucky to lose against Swansea that day. We had a decent crowd and the performance was good – it was just the result that let the day down.”

Looking back on Farnborough’s 1991-92 tie at Upton Park, Bye recalls: “You find yourself stood there in front of people you know and West Ham had a whole team of people we knew. They had Frank McAvenie, Ian Bishop, Julian Dicks and Tony Gale and they were in the old first division then, as it was the year before the Premier League started.

“Matty Elliott, who was at Leicester, played for Torquay in the previous game that year and he was a lad coming through back then.”

Although Bye has fond memories of his cup exploits, he insists today’s giant-killers are far better equipped to down the big-guns – as long as open-mouthed players don’t get too carried away with the moment.

“It gives your season something,” says Bye, whose son Joe plays for Paulton’s Southern League rivals AFC Totton – Bath City’s fourth qualifying round victims this year.

“For most sides it’s ‘start your season, not a lot happens, season finishes’. A cup run is great and you get press coverage if you can go on a good FA Cup run.

“You can’t let it pass you by. It’s easier said than done, but you’ve got to try and get yourself in the game quickly.

“Whether it’s winning a header or a tackle, you just need something to settle you down and make you feel good.

“For all the shocks we get each year, there are also teams who get absolutely hammered. You can’t spend too much time looking at the crowd and thinking ‘This is a nice place to be’. You have to get the game going and if you can do that, you start thinking you could do something.

“If you get a hiding, it’s so disappointing. Somehow you have to find a way to have a go at the other team.

“It’s there for somebody this year – there will be a hero somewhere and they could be from this area with Eastleigh still in it.”