FA Cup: 'It has been a fairytale' - Boreham Wood out but not down

Goodison Park proved to be the end of the line for Boreham Wood in this season's FA Cup, but for the National League side it has been far more about the journey than the destination.

Victory at Everton on Thursday was always unlikely, despite the desire of romantics — this game a hurdle just too lofty to clear against a weakened but still talent-packed Premier League side.

But the players, staff and fans of this ambitious club from Hertfordshire still treated the evening like a win from start to finish.

For almost an hour they gave Everton — one of English football's most decorated sides, 78 places above them on the football ladder — the jitters, leaving more than a few home fans to wonder at half-time if the unthinkable might just happen.

It didn't quite pan out like that as Salomon Rondon's double sealed a 2-0 win for the Toffees, but Wood's immediate financial future is secure for now after years of uncertainty. Those involved in the run have memories to treasure and share with loved ones, and if things pan out as they hope there could still be more celebrations to come.

It has been quite the run for the National League side — one that began with a battling 1-0 win at Barnet way back in October.

While Everton sank into crisis, Wood were seeing off Eastleigh, St Albans, AFC Wimbledon and, most impressively of all, Premier League-chasing Bournemouth, to book Thursday's tie against the five-time FA Cup winners.

To lean into the cliche, some of the moments that brought them to Merseyside were magical, including the celebrations that greeted Adrian Clifton's game-sealing volley against Wimbledon and 37-year-old captain Mark Ricketts overcoming injury to score the winner at the Cherries in round four.

They failed to fashion one to