THE narrative was set from the moment that ball 28 followed number 27 out of the bowl in the draw for the first round of the FA Cup, Newport County AFC would head to Morecambe fuelled by a sense of injustice.
This was a tie that would see the Exiles head to Lancashire hunting a bit of revenge after their League Two play-off final defeat to the Shrimps in controversial circumstances.
With the help of referee Bobby Madley’s poor decisions, it is Morecambe that have trips to Sunderland’s Stadium of Light, Sheffield Wednesday’s Hillsborough and the Valley to take on Charlton still to come in 2021/22.
Yet this isn’t the grudge match it could have been, a summer of change in both camps put an end to that.
No doubt the travelling Amber Army will have to put up with some goading from the Shrimps at the Mazuma Stadium and they’ll respond, no doubt with some chants featuring Madley after his hapless Wembley performance.
But it some of the spice of the clash has undeniable gone after the exit of villain Derek Adams, who instead copped flak on his visit to Newport as boss of Bradford City.
The Scot will no longer be in the home dugout in Morecambe, Michael Flynn won’t be in the away technical area.
Nor will many of those that took to the field at Wembley be involved – County made 15 signings last summer but Morecambe eclipsed that with 19.
The Shrimps squad that earned promotion to the third tier for the first time in the club’s history was demolished over the summer.
Carlos Mendes Gomes, who scored the penalty winner, is in the Championship with Luton.
John O'Sullivan, who won the spot-kick, was released and is now with Accrington.
Midfielder Yann Songo'o linked up again with Adams at Bradford while defender Sam Lavelle, who lifted the trophy at Wembley, is now at Charlton.
Kyle Letheren, the Welsh goalkeeper who clattered Scot Bennett in the head yet didn't give away a penalty, has been playing second fiddle to Reading loanee Jokull Andersson.
There are still some familiar faces, notably dangerman Cole Stockton, who is already on 11 goals for this season after scoring 15 times in the promotion season.
The change has been just as dramatic at County and it was the prospect of having to rebuild again that added to Flynn's post-Wembley despair.
Key figures Josh Sheehan, Joss Labadie and Liam Shephard left along with Tom King, Padraig Amond, Anthony Hartigan, Joe Ledley, Nicky Maynard and Ryan Taylor.
There are seven survivors that got onto the field - Ryan Haynes, Aaron Lewis, Mickey Demetriou, Matty Dolan, Lewis Collins, Priestley Farquharson and Kevin Ellison.
Of those, Bennett and Farquharson will not be in Morecambe due to injury while if the XI that beat Stevenage gets the chance to go again then just three players – Demetriou, Lewis and then out of favour Dom Telford – were even at the club for the play-off final.
Flynn has gone and James Rowberry will be in charge tomorrow afternoon while the majority of the squad didn’t spent their summer with pictures of Madley and Adams on their dart boards.
They might not have even been at Rodney Parade if the club was in League One.
There is still the issue of a return for Morecambe for Shrimps legend Ellison but the exit of Adams means that will hopefully lead to a good reception from the home crowd and no spikiness (that can wait for Valley Parade).
A County win at Morecambe would be nice even if it won’t right the wrongs, but just 23 weeks after Wembley these are two very different clubs.
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