FA Cup Third Round Result 22th January 2011

Crawley Town 2-1 Derby County
I can hardly believe it. Another one!
I knew about Glenn Wilson already but I had no idea that Scott Neilson was the grandson of Cliff Jones, which means he’s eligible to play for Wales! How exciting is that?
Oh yes, and non-league Crawley beat Championship side Derby…
It was a very exciting game which Crawley deserved to win. They dominated and fully deserved their lead, matching, if not surpassing, their more illustrious visitors. Derby should have taken the lead early on when they were awarded a penalty but Crawley goalkeeper Michael Kuipers wasn’t going to be beaten as easily as all that. Instead, it was Crawley who took the lead.
Although Derby did find an equaliser from somewhere, a replay would probably have been triumph enough – if just a little bit disappointing, given the way they’d played. But Crawley weren’t giving up as easily as all that and in stoppage time, they got a second goal. The winner was scored by Torres - not a sentence that’s been written very often this season.
Glenn and Scott both came close to scoring for Crawley.
Gareth Roberts and Robbie Savage were in Derby’s starting line-up but they were both substituted, not that long before Crawley scored again.
Crawley face fellow giant-killers Torquay United in the next round.

Fa Cup Fixture 10th January 2011

Crawley Town v Derby County
The third round has been full of cupsets and it could provide just one more when Crawley host Derby County. It is the first time in the history of football that these clubs have met in a competitive football fixture. Crawley have already knocked out Swindon Town.
Robbie Savage announced to 606 listeners that this match was on Sunday but luckily his co-presenter put him right so he should be available. Gareth Roberts was rested against Millwall so he could play this evening if Derby manager Nigel Clough feels that Crawley are more of a threat. Robbie certainly believes that they need to treat Crawley with respect. And hopefully they’ll let him in the ground this time. By the way, if you’ve seen Robbie’s credit card…
Glenn Wilson could start for Crawley.

FA Cup Results 26th November 2010

Crawley Town 1-1 Swindon Town
Six months ago, Swindon got about as close as you can get to promotion without actually getting it. This season, they have an FA Cup replay against Crawley Town. It’s probably not how Swindon imagined this season – but a great result for Crawley.
Glenn Wilson played the full match for Crawley.

Port Vale 1-0 Accrington Stanley
Port Vale are in the third-round of the FA Cup after beating fellow League Two team Accrington Stanley.
Gareth Owen played the full match for Port Vale. The former Stoke trainee would love to face Stoke in the third round.
Lewis Haldane was a 70th-minute substitute.
Joe Jacobson went straight into Accrington’s starting line-up after joining on loan from Oldham Athletic. He looked lively and could have scored a couple. Once he’s used to the stadium and his new team-mates, maybe those chances will go in.

FA Cup Results 6th November 2010 (Part 3)

Gillingham 0-2 Dover Athletic
Dover were out for revenge. Gillingham had taken two of their managers, their youth team coach and one of their best players. But it was Dover who went through to the second round of the FA Cup.
Adam Birchall has scored no fewer than nine goals in the FA Cup this season. I didn’t see the first eight but his ninth was spectacular.

Guiseley 0-5 Crawley Town
No giant-killing here but we still have another non-league side in the second round of the FA Cup. The winner came from Torres. Liverpool must have been jealous. But only for twenty-four hours.
Glenn Wilson wasn’t in Crawley’s squad due to a hamstring problem.

Harrow Borough 0-2 Chesterfield
Chesterfield are at the top of League Two for a reason and, unlike many clubs, they weren’t about to be caught out by their non-league opponents. But the fact they only scored two probably means that Harrow did a pretty good job.
Substitute Craig Davies made the game safe only in the 93rd minute.

Hartlepool United 0-0 Vauxhall Motors
And another non-league side force a replay against League One opponents. It could have been a lot worse for Hartlepool but luckily when Vauxhall scored, it was offside.
Rob Marsh-Evans wasn’t playing for Vauxhall Motors because he’s gone back to parent club Southport.

Havant & Waterloovilw 0-2 Droylsden
No dazzling Cup run for Havant this season – not unless Droylsden made the same mistake as they did against Chesterfield two years ago.

Hereford Town 5-1 Hythe Town
Hythe, the lowerst-ranked team in the first round proper, became the second team in three matches to concede five against Hereford. But the difference between Hythe and Stockport County is that Hereford didn’t keep a clean sheet aganst Hythe.
Stuart Fleetwood finally got the start that he should have got weeks ago. He got the assist for the third goal, then scored the fifth. Ryan Green played at centre back but Ryan Valentine was unselected.

Macclesfield Town 2-2 Southend United
Macclesfield and Southend prepare for the second of four meetings between these sides this season.
Sam Wedgbury was on the bench for Macclesfield.
Southend were without Peter Gilbert, who was suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card. He was disappointed about missing this FA Cup match but Southend kindly ensured he would be playing in the first round after all.

Mansfield Town 0-1 Torquay United
Mansfield were very disappointed to lose after holding League Two’s Torquay at bay for 87 minutes.
Rhys Day couldn’t play for Mansfield following a red card in a previous game. Matt Somner also couldn’t play as he seems to be on loan at Altrincham.

Notts County 2-0 Gateshead
Gateshead might have harboured hopes of taking advantage of Notts County while things were in disarray following the shock sacking of one manager and very quick appointment of another.
Unfortunately, Notts County had other ideas. Ben Davies scored the penalty to put them 1-0 up.

Plymouth Argyle 0-4 Swindon Town
Swindon looked more like the play-off finalists they were last year than a team not all that far above Plymouth and the relegation places.
Carl Fletcher is still out for Plymouth with a leg injury.

FA Cup Fixtures 6th November 2010 (Part 3)

Forest Green v Northampton Town
Forest Green have lots of injury doubts but the manager won’t say who which is no help at all. Brothers Mike Fowler and Lee Fowler and also Curtis McDonald are on Forest Green’s books. Mike seems to be a regular starter and Curtis has recently returned from a calf injury but Lee will be out for about three months due to a knee ligament injury.
Paul Walker will probably be on the bench for Northampton.

Gillingham v Dover Athletic
Adam Birchall could play for Dover against their Kent rivals. He was released from his last club, Barnet, by manager Ian Hendon, who is now the assistant manager at Gillingham. Adam has just signed a two-year contract extension after being linked with a move to... Gillingham.

Guisley v Crawley Town
Glenn Wilson could play for Crawley Town. Guiseley are unbeaten in 16 matches in all competitions.

Hartlepool United v Vauxhall Motors
Rob Marsh-Evans played for Vauxhall in the FA Cup whilst on loan from Southport but he’s returned to his parent club now. Vauxhall are unbeaten in nine.

Harrow Borough v Chesterfield
Craig Davies will hope to continue his excellent scoring record against Harrow – but only if he’s played. Mark Crossley could play in goal for Chesterfield. Robert Page could also be in contention.

Havant & Waterlooville v Droylsden
Two of the most famous giantkillers (in my time as a football supporter) go head to head in the first round of the FA Cup. The home side will be remembered for romantic reasons but the Droylsden story was more a comedy. Of more than a few errors. (Neither of them seem to have any Welsh players at the moment but these are two of my favourite football stories ever.)
Havant knocked out York City, Notts County and Swansea City before taking the lead twice at Anfield. Liverpool went on to win the game 5-2 but it should have been 4-2. One of those goals was offside. I bet Havant would love another go at Liverpool this season.
Droylsden knocked out Darlington in the FA Cup two seasons ago and then faced Chesterfield.
The first fixture between these sides was abandoned due to fog (Chesterfield were leading 2-0).
The second match was drawn 2-2 in controversial circumstances. Droylsden kicked the ball out of play to allow an injured Chesterfield player to be treated. Chesterfield didn’t return possession and following the throw-in, they accidently scored a goal. The Chesterfield manager solved the problem by telling his players to stand aside and let Droylsden score.
In the replay, Chesterfield went two goals ahead but the match was abandoned due to floodlight failure.
When the replay was replayed, Droylsden won the match and knocked Chesterfield out of the Cup.
Except they didn’t because they’d accidentally fielded an ineligible player (he was banned for a fifth booking but because of all the replays all over the place, Droylsden got confused). And not only did he play, he scored the two goals to knock Chesterfield out.
So Droylsden were thrown out of the competition, with Chesterfield progressing in their place.
Chesterfield went on to lose to Ipswich Town and therefore became one of I’m sure comparatively few teams who have played in the first two rounds (proper) of the FA Cup without actually winning a game.