YEADING left back Alex Stanley said Sunday's FA Cup Third Round clash against Newcastle United was like the stuff dreams are made of.

Even though the Ryman League minnows were knocked out at Loftus Road on Sunday he says the 2-0 loss will still be a story to tell his grandchildren.

The 21-year-old, of Brookland Avenue, Swindon, was back at his job as a plasterer on Tuesday but he was still high on the emotion of the day.

He said: "It is by far the best day in my football career. I'm still buzzing from it."

The game was watched by almost 10,000 fans with 4,000 of them wearing a Yeading shirt. Millions more were watching the BBC Match of the Day coverage at home.

Stanley said: "The stadium was an amazing sight. You had half the seats filled with red and black Yeading shirts and the other seats were occupied with black and white.

"The noise and the atmosphere was unreal and really spurred us on.

"I stood in the tunnel before the game next to Titus Bramble. I could not believe it at first."

He was given the job of marking Welsh international Craig Bellamy, one of the left back's football heroes.

"I was really excited about marking Bellamy but he got a little hacked off with me.

"Before the game one of my mates told me to challenge him early or else he might run rings around me.

"In the first ten minutes he was trying to run around me and I kicked his heels. He was not happy and came up and had a go at me. He called me a few nasty names. I had to give him a bit of stick back.

"He refused to give me his shirt at the end of the match, which I think is a little unprofessional.

"I got Andy O'Brien's shirt and gave it to my little brother. I tried getting it signed but the players all disappeared after the game.

"I was happy with my performance because Bellamy did not get the better of me once. In the second half he moved away from me to the other side of the field.

"I took that as a compliment as he was getting frustrated with me."

The days before and after the match gave him and his teammates celebrity status and allowed them a glimpse of what life is like for a professional player.

He said: "I have been on Sky Sports News a few times this week and I watched the game twice. It is really strange seeing yourself on TV and in a match.

"I had people asking me for autographs and to have their picture taken with me. I'm new to all that and it was really weird."

Stanley did not know what to expect from the Newcastle fans.

"They were fantastic. I have never meet a group of fans like it. They were cheering us on and coming up to us to shake our hands. They even started singing 'we are top of the league' for us. That was just fantastic and topped the day off for us.

"When we went to get on the coach the fans mobbed us again for autographs and photos."

Stanley was looking forward to meeting the players after the game but was bitterly disappointed.

"They were back on a plane straight after the match. We did not see them before the game and were all looking forward to seeing them in the players lounge but they all cleared off. That was probably the only disappointment of the whole day."

Yeading managed to hold the score level until the 50th minute when Lee Bowyer put them ahead. Shola Ameobi added a late second.

The performance of Exeter at Old Trafford the day before only served to increase the players nerves before the game. They feared that would be the one great non-league result of the weekend.

"We were all praying that we were not the only team to get an 8-0 thrashing," said Stanley.

The underdogs kept a clean sheet at half time but their manager Johnson Hippolyte still gave his players a ticking off.

"He was not happy that we were losing the ball so easily. He told us to keep going. At times I think we forgot who we were playing against. A few of the players tried to dribble the ball out of danger.

"They forgot that they were trying to run around Lauren Robert and Lee Bowyer.

"I was still gutted at full time as we played so well but it was nice to get a decent result and not get hammered.

"To hold them at 0-0 until the 50th minute was a great achievement. For the last 35 minutes their superior fitness shone through.

"It is still a result that will go down in Yeading history books."

Stanley's family were all in the stadium watching and a few of them had bets on him to be the first goal scorer.

He is Yeading's regular free kick taker and was priced at 40-1. His dad and uncle both had £10 on him. His friends had put their money together and had another £80 for him to score.

In the 15th minute he had his chance with a free kick right on the edge of the area.

"My free kick was terrible, I saw a gap in the wall and aimed for that but I leaned back and skied the ball.

"I had a few texts after the match from my mates saying I owed them their money back for my miss.

"When the free kick went over I did briefly think to myself about the bets and that I let them down."

After the match the players went back to Yeading's ground where the chairman had put on a buffet and a free bar.

He said: "We all had a good drink at the club and then a few of us went clubbing in London."

The team headed for popular London hotspot Sugar Sugar and bumped into a Newcastle's new signing Celestine Babayaro.

Said Stanley: "It was really funny bumping into him in the club. We had a chat about the game and it was really good to meet him."