The FA Cup third round weekend would not be complete without a shock or two - and no neutral enjoys anything more than seeing a team of part-timers punch above their weight.

Last season, Blue Square South side Havant and Waterlooville showed there is still magic in the Cup by beating Swansea City to reach the fourth round, where they went to Anfield and took the lead before losing 5-2 to Liverpool.

This year, eight non-league teams have made it to round three - including Blue Square Premier side Kidderminster Harriers who, in 1994, were the last club from outside the Football League to reach the last 16.

Under long-serving boss Graham Allner, Harriers - then of the Conference - shocked their illustrious neighbours Birmingham - of the old First Division - with a 2-1 third round win at St Andrew's that year and went on to beat Preston before eventually bowing out to West Ham.

Harriers' game on Saturday is another derby clash with a Championship side, this time at the Ricoh Arena against Coventry City.

Ahead of that game, Allner tells BBC Sport about the sheer elation of a Cup upset - and how his men pulled it off.

"The FA Cup provides one of world football's showcase occasions at Wembley every May. But it has always been a special competition for this country's non-league players, myself included.

Playing every minute of the longest tie on record, when Alvechurch reached the first round for the first time in 1971 after winning a fifth replay against Oxford City at Villa Park, was a good start.

606: DEBATE If Coventry get too cocky they could be in trouble on Saturday Luke_01

And scoring a last-minute winner for them against Exeter City in the first round two years later, when we eventually reached the third round for the first time, whetted the appetite even more.

I then experienced the dismay and despair the competition can produce when my Worcester City side went out in heartbreaking fashion in a second round replay against Newport County (with West Ham awaiting the winners).

So, although league success was a priority when I entered management, I knew the benefits a Cup run could bring.

I left my first club AP Leamington for Kidderminster in 1983 on the day they reached the first round to face defeat at the hands of a Steve Bruce-inspired Gillingham.

And after arriving at Aggborough some ignominious exits in my early years were followed by more second-round replay misery against Maidstone United in 1987 - and a subsequent number of consecutive first-round exits.

So, when we beat Woking in a second round tie in late 1993 to eventually reach the third round for the first time a celebration after the game with the lads in Broad Street in Birmingham city centre seemed appropriate.

ALL ABOUT ALLNER Managed Kidderminster from 1983 until 1999 Took the Harriers to three Wembley FA Trophy finals in 1987, 1991 and 1995 Later managed Worcester City and Cheltenham Town Now working as an independent scout

Staying sober for the third-round draw later on Match of The Day wasn't easy. And it was difficult to take in as a crowded bar erupted when we were paired with Birmingham City at St Andrew's. But reality quickly dawned the next day as the phone began to ring.

For a boyhood Blues fan, as I was, it was particularly poignant.

We had become quite a high-profile club in non-league circles over the years but press coverage of this game went off the scale - and we all loved every minute of it.

But as the manager of a club with Football League ambitions in a challenging promotion position in the Conference I was aware of the dangers of a cup run.

I quickly realised, however, that I needn't have worried. The players were able to compartmentalise matches and continue to fully commit themselves to league games when required.

Ample motivation came from the Football League's stated indication that we would not be promoted even if we won the Conference because of the inadequacies of our ground, something well in hand with a new grandstand on schedule to be completed by the beginning of the following season.

Regulations meant we were up against it but we knew success on the field on both fronts would help our cause and the players bought into it totally. We would enjoy our 'Cup weeks', but otherwise make the league our priority.

With the chairman and directors fighting the club's cause off the field to ensure the new facilities were on track, we could concentrate totally on football. And the positive media interest we were attracting could only help our cause.

The build-up to the day was intensive and very enjoyable for a non-league team of part-timers as we prepared for our biggest day.

An evening press call for local and national media at St Andrew's a few days before the game involving the whole playing staff gave us a taste of what to expect on the day.

With a relatively new regime in the Birmingham boardroom and an old friend in Barry Fry in charge, the Blues were always going to be difficult opponents.

Fry took charge of Birmingham three weeks before they lost to Kidderminster

It was backs against the wall at times for us in the second half but Jon Purdie's winner was worthy of the occasion and led to great scenes at the final whistle.

Our 5,000 travelling fans on the Tilton Road End went mad as the players celebrated in front of them, while Harriers chairman Dave Reynolds and other directors raced past me to join in.

I was content to enjoy it all from a distance, which enabled me to fully appreciate the warm reception we received from the Blues fans, most of whom had graciously stayed behind to applaud our lads.

After taking in the scene, then posing for a photo on the halfway line with a young Harriers supporter in a wheelchair, I decided to make my way to an empty dressing room to enjoy a quiet moment of reflection.

To my surprise, our exhausted centre-half Chris Brindley had slipped away from the others and was already there so we enjoyed a couple of minutes quietly taking in what had happened before pandemonium broke out all around us as the rest of the players arrived.

It was the shock of the day in the Cup and by the time I had completed my many and varied media requirements, most of the players had left - but not before making arrangements for another celebration in Broad Street!

Our Cup run continued to attract more attention, with two memorable home games against Preston and West Ham, and by the time the Hammers finally knocked us out at Aggborough in the fifth round, we were still top of the Conference and our promotion cause had attracted campaigns of support in both the local and national media.

That was solely down to the performance of my players, who ensured the glory of one of non-league football's most successful FA Cup runs did not affect our promotion challenge. And, for that, they deserved enormous credit.

That we were ultimately denied promotion to the Football League after winning the title was predictable given the inflexible nature of the regulations governing promotion to the League in those days.

But victory in the Cup at St Andrew's that day remains arguably the best day in the club's history.

Graham Allner was talking to BBC Sport's Nick Hatton.

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