Injury time heartbreak for the Bucks!!

An injury time goal from Keiran Agard earned Bristol City and not AFC Telford United a place in the 3rd round of the FA cup.

It is always heartbreaking to go out of this famous competition at any stage, but to be knocked out at this stage, only one step away from a chance of a money spinning home tie with the likes of Manchester United, City, Chelsea , Liverpool or Arsenal up for grabs is a real kick in the teeth.  Even worse is the fact that it happened during injury time.

The Bucks deserve great credit for their endeavours and effort, to take the highest ranked team in the competition at this stage to the 92nd minute of the game at nil-nil is impressive but to have matched their far superior opponents (in league and form terms at least) and to have had chances to win the game themselves on The Robins own patch is testament to the team, the players, the manager, the coaching staff and of course the supporters who travelled to the game and got behind their team from the very first minute to the very last.

Bucks keeper Jonathan Hedge made some important saves.

Everyone involved should be very proud of themselves and the effort they have put in.  Although eventually the result didn't go Telford's way they should take a lot from this tie.

At the moment The Bucks are at the bottom of the conference Premier but if they can take the positives from this game and use the experience of taking a team that lets face it will probably be plying their trade in the Championship next year then who is to say they can't get out of this rut they find themselves in the league and get themselves out of the relegation dog fight.

So now it is with a heavy heart that I have to move on and leave AFC Telford United to their battle for survival in the Conference, but as is the whole point of doing this glory hunt I have to move on to the next one in the hope that they can bring me the FA cup success i crave for.

Bad luck to the Bucks of Telford and good luck for the rest of the season, I truly hope and I truly believe you will be a conference side next season.

The FA cup glory hunt rolls on.

Alan Shearer picked out ball number 63 last night and Bristol City will be away in the next round against Doncaster Rovers.

Come on you Robins!!!

Up the Robins!!!

The Bucks take on The Robins

On Sunday afternoon at 2pm AFC Telford United FC take on League 1 top dogs Bristol City in what has to be their biggest game in many a year.

The two teams come into this game poles apart in their league standings, Bristol City are top of the league 1 table whilst Telford sit rock bottom of the conference premier.  The Robins are on a high at the moment after beating many peoples pre-season league favourites Peterborough 3-0 away from home in their last outing.  In stark contrast The Bucks are coming in on the back of a a disappointing 3-1 home defeat to Chester City.

The beauty of the Fa cup is though that on the day anything can happen and although Telford are going to be massive underdogs for this game the cup can always throw up a surprise or two.

Although on paper this tie looks like a forgone conclusion and on most accumulators tomorrow Bristol City will be down as a banker it doesn't mean the bucks don't have a chance.

Telford come into this game with zero pressure or expectations on them, because of the Robins recent fine form all the pressure will be on the home team.  If The Bucks can stay in the game for as long as possible then they will always get a chance, the thing is anything can happen in the cup and there has been bigger upsets.

There is no getting away from it though, this is going to be one hell of a tough test for the Conference outfit.

I watched bits and pieces of Bristol City's last game with Peterborough and I have to say I was impressed with their performance, Posh didn't really get a look in even with their formidable strike force of Aaron Maclean and Craig Mackail -Smith.

Luke Freeman scored twice in this game and the other goal was scored by former Crystal Palace striker Aaron Wilbraham.

Robins striker Luke Freeman doing his impression of Jay out of the Inbetweeners.

The Robins have a wealth of talent at their disposal for Sunday's game and to be fair whichever of their strikers the decide to play it is likely to be a a busy old day for either Fred Hall or Jonathan Hedge in the Bucks goal.  City may decide to go with Kieran Agard or Wes Burns up front such are the options for league 1 leaders.

Former Everton youngster Kieran Agard

In midfield City have a player who think is going to be the biggest thorn in the Bucks side and that is Marlon Pack.  I remember Pack coming on loan to Dagenham and Redbridge when he was a youngster at Portsmouth.  Although he was only on loan for a short period at the Daggers it was obvious to most of the fans, not all, that this 19/20 year old as I think he was at the time was going to grow into a cultured midfield player  And so it was to prove.  Pack had a successful spell with the Robin's of Cheltenham Town before joining the Robins of Bristol City at the start of the 2013 season.  Marlon is central midfielder who is good in the tackle and a very good passer of the ball, he can also hit a ball if given a chance.

One to watch.
 Midfield maestro Marlon Pack.

As I have said previously its going to be a very big ask for The Bucks to get a positive result in this match given the superiority of their opponents,  but if the football gods are feeling favourable on Sunday you never know.

Good luck to Telford on Sunday, hope to see you still in the hat for the draw come Monday night and a chance of meeting up with one of the heavyweights of the English football elite.

Up the Bucks!!

Bucks march on!!

It may have taken 180+ minutes but Telford are through to the 2nd round of the FA cup and a potenial money spinning  away tie against league 1 outfit Bristol City.

1251 fans turned up at the Soccer Am Stadium in Basingstoke to see this game.

The Bucks took the lead in the 18th minute through Rod Mcdonald, but were pegged back five minutes into the second half when Dragons top scorer Chris Flood netted for the hosts.

Rod Mcdonald had put Telford ahead.

It had always looked like a tough tie on paper especially as Basingstoke coming into this game where top of the Conference South and The Bucks of course propping up the Conference table.  A draw though gave Bucks a great opportunity to make the most of home advantage in the replay.

And so it was to prove as Telford went 2-0 up in just over half an hour.  Goals from Andy Parry and Tony Gray were enough to give The Bucks a well deserved lead at half time.

On loan luton defender Andy Parry.

Tony Gray.

An early second half strike from former Aldershot and Barbados International midfielder Louie Soares for the visitors.  Unfortunately for the Dragons this only proved to be a consolation goal, despite Basingstoke's pressure and best efforts they failed to get the elusive equaliser as Telford hung on for what could be a very important victory in their season.

Louie Soares scored a consolation goal.

So next up in the cup it's Bristol City on the 7th of December, as it exciting as the prospect of that game is though their priority at the moment will be the league and the two upcoming home games against Braintree Town and Grimsby respectively.

Hopefully this FA cup run can build the confidence and The Bucks can get a couple of wins and start to claw their way up the table and towards safety.

www.telfordunited.com
If you want to find out more about AFC Telford United then please visit their website above.

http://youtu.be/JP_agfm-86Y
Above are the highlights of the replay.

So congratulations to Telford and commiserations to Basingstoke, as the glory hunt continues on and so do The Bucks.

Come on Telford!!

Up The Bucks!!

AFC Telford United

For anyone who hasn't read one of these posts before my mission was to pick a team from this years extra preliminary round of the Fa Cup and follow their progress through the rounds, each time the team I follow is knocked out of the competition I follow their conquerors and so it goes on. Hence the name glory hunt.  Eventually by next May I will be supporting the winning team as they are crowned FA Cup winners 2015.

The first team I chose were Morpeth Town, who went out in the the extra pre-lim round  Dunston UTS, Dunston did well and progressed through a couple of rounds before meeting Spennymoor Town.  Spennymoor Town got past Ashton United but finally were beaten by in a replay by AFC Telford United.

So here we are on the eve of the first round proper and my new team AFC Telford are taking on Basingstoke Town from the Conference South, at the Soccer AM stadium.

Telford play at the New Bucks Stadium.

The Bucks manager is Liam Watson.  Watson is a former striker who's playing career took him to such clubs as Warrington, Preston North End, Runcorn and Accrington Stanley.  Liam started in management in 2000 as boss of  Runcorn FC Halton, he also managed Burscough and had two spells at Southport before taking over at the new Bucks stadium in 2013.

Bucks Manager Liam Watson.

Bucks captain is Steve Akrigg, a former Southport, Warrington and Skelmersdale defender 27 year old Akrigg has just returned recently from a 7 month lay off with injury.

Captain Steve Akrigg.

After a tricky game in the last game against Spennymoor Town where the Bucks had forced a replay after coming back from 2-0 by scoring twice in injury time, they went on to win the replay 3-0 with goals from Adam Farrell and midfielder Mike Grogan who scored a brace.

Mike Grogan.

The cup will be a bit of a distraction from the league for Telford and hopefully a nice one, as at the moment they sit rock bottom of the Conference with only 10 points and having only won 2 games so far this season.

Basingstoke will be tough opponents on Saturday as at the moment they are top of the Conference South and looking in confident mood.  The Bucks will have to be at their very best to beat Jason Bristow's team and give them any chance of repeating their best run in the FA Cup of the 5th round back in 1985 where the narrowley lost to First Division champions elect Everton.

Both teams come into this tie on the back of defeats.  Telford lost last time out to Bristol Rovers and Basingstoke fell to a 2-1 defeat at home to Chelmsford City.

The Bucks will need to be mindful of the attacking threat the Dragons posses in strikers of Chris Flood and Liam Enver-Marum who have scored 17 goals between them.

Chris Flood(centre) congratulated by former Torquay man Lloyd Macklin.

As a Dagenham and Redbridge supporter I have memories of Basingstoke Town and an injury time  equaliser in a 2-2 draw in the FA Cup when our then goalkeeper Tony Roberts came up for a corner and scored in the fourth qualifying round in 2001.  The Daggers won the replay and made the 3rd round were the lost  4-1 to then premier league side Ipswich Town,after taking a one-nil lead.

Tony Roberts became only the second goalkeeper in history to score in the FA Cup, in 2001.

Anyway back to tomorrow and The Bucks will need to work hard to get a result, I think if they could get a draw at the Soccer Am Stadium they will surely have a better chance of winning in the replay at home.  A lot of people will probably see this as a potential upset but I for one will be hoping Telford can defy the odds and get through to the next round.

Come on you Bucks!!!

To find out more about AFC Telford United go to the website.
www.telfordunited.com/

So close yet so far for brave Moors!!!

Spennymoor crashed out of the FA Cup on Tuesday night but only after a monumental effort.

Moors were leading 2-0 in the tie with ninety minutes on the clock and surely on their way through to the first round proper on Saturday afternoon, when the referee decided to add on another 8 minutes of stoppage time.  In that added time Adam Farrell managed to score twice and canceled out Joe Tait's and Liam Henderson's earlier strikes.

http://youtu.be/fTvPh7gq9PQ

Jason Ainsley was understandably disappointed with referee's Ryan Johnson and the time that was added on, the Moors manager also had been aggrieved at the decision not to award his team a penalty.

Although obviously unhappy with the final result Spennymoor showed that they could fight it out with the big boys and would have gone into the replay at The New Bucks Head on Tuesday with a belief that they had nearly beaten the Conference team once and their would be no reason why they couldn't do it again.

Unfortunately for the Moors it wasn't to be as Telford made the most of their home advantage and in the end ran out 3-0 winners.

Another goal from Andy Farrell  and a brace from Mike Grogan was enough to see the Bucks through and into a first round tie away to Basingstoke Town of the Conference South.

Adam Farrell scored 3 goals over the tie.

It's always a shame when your team gets knocked out of the cup but as this is the nature of the glory hunt I have to dump Spennymoor and move on to pastures new.  I'm sorry it's not you its me, I have to follow  the winners of the FA Cup and unfortunately that is something you can't give me.  Its been fun but I'm off.

In all seriousness though I have enjoyed following the Moors through the cup and will continue to look out for them.

Good luck to Jason Ainsley and his boys and I hope they have a very successful season in the league.


Just off topic slightly Spennymoor are hosting an event at the Ramside Hall Hotel and Golf Club on the 21/11/201.  Top of the bill that night will be none other than 80's soul superstar Alexander O'Neal.

For more information on this and to keep up with Spennymoor Town's progress this season go to their website.
www.spennymoortownfc.co.uk/

Alexander O'Neal, taken at this years Brentwood Festival, taken by good friend of mine Joel Stevens.

If you like the above picture why not go and look at some of his other work
drmonkatron.wix.com/choochoo-films


So it's goodbye to The Moors and on to my next team, I feel so fickle.


Come on you Bucks!!!!

Spennymoor take on Telford.

It's FA Cup time again and it is the final round of the qualifiers.  Spennymoor Town take on AFC Telford Umited from the Conference Premeir.  The Moors come into this game in good form after a convincing 4-1 win in the league in their last outing against Lancaster City.  Spennymoor sit in 5th place in the league with 23 points and due to their impressive cup run so far they have games in hand on their rivals.
   

The Moors must be confident of a an upset in this game, although against opposition from the highest league in the competition so far, Telford remain bottom of the Conference with 10 points from their first 17 games.  The Bucks did however win impressively away in their last encounter turning over Woking 3-1.

Another blow to Telford is the sale of their forward Mike Phenix to league 1 outfit Barnsley.  Phenix scored twice in the last game with Woking, his 5th and 6th goals of the season.  The 25 year old 6ft 1 striker who is also able to play out on the wing is surely going to be a great loss for The Bucks.

Mike Phenix signs for Barnsley.

I remember Telford from the old Vauxhall Conference days back in the 80's.  As a Dagenham fan I remember the Bucks coming to Victoria Road this one time in about 1985.  A small section of young kids were singing some derogatory songs toward the Telford fans, a common occurrence in the mid 80's but I remember my mate Hula Hoop who could have only been about 10 at the time joining in with the song.  Hula Hoop loves a good sing song unfortunately he is forever singing the wrong words to songs, he sang "you look in the dustbin for something to eat, you find a dead cat and you eat it, in your Telford Scarves".     So wrong on so many levels.

In your Telford Scarves.

AFC Telford's man to watch will probably be their number 10 Tony Gray.  30 year old Gray is a former Droylsdon , Southport and Chester striker.

Tony Gray.

The Moors will be coming into this game as underdogs due to the higher level that their opponents play at, but with home advantage and as previously mentioned a good run of form in both cup and league Spennymoor may just have enough to pull off an upset and book their place into the first round proper where a big league 1 team could be waiting.

Good luck to the boys tomorrow.

Up the Moors!!

Spennymoor march on!!

Moors are through to the 4th qualifying round of the FA cup after a 75th minute penalty from Joe Tait proved to be just enough to dispatch Ashton United.

The penalty had been awarded in somewhat controversial circumstances Gavin Cogdon was put through and out came Ashton keeper Paul Phillips and duly brought down the Moors striker.  A yellow card was brandished to the Robins stopper and he was lucky not to be in more trouble as he disputed the decision.  In all fairness to Phillip's he did have a bit of a case as after watching the penalty incident the contact looks to be made just outside the box, but it is not clear and in the end it is fair play to the Spennymoor centre back who kept his cool and delivered an unstoppable spot kick into the top right hand corner.

Match winner Joe Tait.

Before the goal both teams had their chances and both had goals disallowed.  moors thought they had taken the lead on 21 minutes through Michael Roberts, only for the linesman's flag to quash the celebrations.  Later in the half  Ashton thought they had taken lead when Jack Higgins rose to head home a corner but unfortunately for the Robins the referee had already blown for a foul on the Spennymoor keeper Adam McHugh.

Ashton were more the dominant team in the second half and when Moors scored it was slightly against the run of play.  After the goal Spennymoor had to withstand heavy pressure but Tait and the rest of his back four stood firm and managed to hang on to a very important cup victory which puts them in the next round.

The draw for the final qualifying round took place yesterday and the Moors have secured a home tie against AFC Telford United of the Conference Premier.

This is obviously a great tie for Spennymoor being at home is always an advantage but playing a team fron the conference should also bring some punters in.  AFC Telford United are currently rock bottom of the top tier of non league football so it maybe a very good time to play them.

In other news Moors have signed a new striker this week.  Nathan Fisher is the newest addition to the Spennymoor squad.  25 year old Fisher has joined from Darlington, a former Middlesborough youth player he has had spells for Durham City, Chester-le-Street Town and Gateshead before joining the Quakers in 2013.

New signing Nathan Fisher.

The moors march on and who knows how far they can now go in this competition.

Good luck to Ashton United for the rest of the season as well.

http://youtu.be/G1XIaXs5lGo  Here are the highlights.

www.spennymoortownfc.co.uk/  Read the match report here.

Up the Moors!!

Spennymoor Town

The FA cup 3rd qualifying round kicks off over this weekend and my new glory hunt team Spennymoor Town are taking on Ashton United.  Spennymoor overcome my last FA Cup team Dunston UTS, whereas Ashton United toppled the class of 92 part owned, glory hunters dream team Salford City in a reply.


Spennymoor Town play in theNorthern Premier league division 1 North, they currently sit in 5th place having played 10 games with 20 points.

The Moors play their home matches at the Brewery Field ground in County Durham.  The grounds capacity is 4000.  The average attendance is about 420.

Spennymoor are managed by Jason Ainsley who is now in his 9th season as Moors boss.  A former player for the club he also played for Hartlepool, Gateshead, Blyth Spartans and Barrow.

Jason's assistant manager at the club is former Wimbledon player Gavin Fell.

Club Captain Chris Mason has been with the club 6 seasons and last year the former Darlington defender lead the Moors to promotion from the Northern League Division 1.  Almost twelve months before he had lifted the FA Vase at Wembley after a 2-1 victory over Tunbridge Wells in the final.

Spennymoor's biggest threat up front has got to be Liam Henderson.  Last term the former Watford youngster  notched 47 goals in his debut season for the Moors, an impressive tally at any level.  At only 24 and with all his best years still ahead of him Jason Ainsley may have trouble keeping hold of his star man.

Tomorrows opponents Ashton United are Division above Spennymoor and are currently 19th in the Northern Premier league Premier Division on 12 points.


Good luck to the Moors tomorrow and hopefully I can follow them through the next couple of pre lim rounds and into the first round proper.

Up the Moors!!

www.spennymoortownfc.co.uk
If you want to visit the clubs website click the link above, to find out more about the club and it's history.

Dunston check out!!

Dunston's FA cup march came to an abrupt end on Saturday afternoon, as their tie with Spennymoor Town proved to be a game too far.  The Moors ran out comfortable 4-1 winners as unfortunately for the Fed Scott Fenwick struggled to find his shooting boots and all they had to take from this game was an Andrew Bulford consolation goal.

Moors were the dominant side throughout the game and so it was probably no surprise that they lead at half time 2-0 through goals from Anthony Peacock and Michael Roberts.

Anthony Peacock

In the second half it was more of the same and goals from  former Watford striker Liam Henderson and a second for Michael Roberts all but secured the win,  Andrew Bulford's great volleyed effort at 3 down could not force a fight back and it is Spennymoor who take their place in the draw for next round at UTS' expense.

Michael Roberts bagged a brace.

Someone once said that football was a funny old game and I have really enjoyed following The Fed in this years FA Cup, but like all good things it has to come to an end.  I feel a little bit like Arthur Fonzerelli going out with a chick for only three dates, before moving on to my next conquest.  Unfortunately that's the way of the FA Cup glory hunt and although I walk away from Dunston with some happy memories of the time we spent together, it's time to move on with the new FA Cup love of my life Spennymoor Town.

The Fonz was more than happy with the Moors performance!!

Good luck to the Fed for the rest of the season, as I will be keeping an eye on the table and the results, as well as the future of Scott Fenwick.

This is no time to dwell on the past though, the glory hunt rolls on and from now on its come on Spennymoor!!

The draw for the next round took place at Wembley earlier today and Spennymoor will play the winner of the tie between Ashton United and Salford City at home on the 11th October.

Up the Moors!!!

Dunston Face Toughest Tie Yet!!!

Dunston face their toughest game to date in the FA Cup, as they take on Spennymoor Town in the 2nd Qualifying round tomorrow.

Spennymoor currently sit 7th in the Evo Stick Division 1 North on 14 points.

Now when I hear the name Spennymoor it conjures up memories of The Big match and Match of the day in the early 80's not because of course Spennymoor Town ever appeared on these programmes, but because Spennymoors most famous son did.  Referee George Courtney.  Or as Brian Moore would say commentary comes from Martin Tyler and your man in the middle is George Courtney from Spennymoor.

Spennymoor or The Moors have got to be big favourites for this game, as they are in a League above in the non league pyramid.

The Moors will be looking to last years top scorer and former Watford, Hartlepool, Colchester, Rotherham and York striker Liam Henderson to be the difference in this game.  Liam netted 47 times last term, in his debut season for Spennymoor.

Also in the Moors ranks is former Dunston midfielder and player of the year Lee McAndrew, Lee will be hoping if selected to have a happy home coming on his return to the UTS Stadium.

The Fed will certainly have it tough tomorrow and realistically if they have any chance of getting through it then home advantage maybe the thing that swings it.

If the crowd get behind them and the defence can stop Henderson and Scott Fenwick continues his free scoring antics then Dunston may just pull off a shock win.

Good luck Dunston.

Up the Fed!!!

Dunston Through.

I predicted a tough game for The Fed on Saturday against Marske United and that is exactly how it proved to be.

Marske, who were at home took the lead in this encounter in the 21st minute Hollingsworth putting the Seasiders ahead with a powerful effort which resulted in UTS goalkeeper Liam Connell colliding with a post and injurying himself quite badly.  The brave keeper carried on though and ended up being Dunston's man of the match.

The Fed equalised in bizzare fashion when Stephen Harrison's corner missed everyone in the box and flew into the top far corner of the net.

A minute later the visitors took the lead Scott Fenwick, Dunston's FA Cup hero was brought down in the box for a penalty, and it was he who got to his feet and smashed home the spot kick for his 5th goal of the competition, keeping up his record of scoring in every round.  Then in first half injury time Marske were awarded a free kick just outside the box, Owens took responsibility for the set piece and fired the ball passed the helpless Connell to level things up and that is how it stayed at half time.  2-2.

By all accounts the second half was all Marske and the Seasiders were asking more questions of the UTS defence than the Fed were of Marske.  Connell was called into action several times in the Dunston goal as United looked to press on.  Then in the 74th minute Dan Halliday made a poor challenge and collected a yellow card unfortunately for him and his Dunston team mates he had already been booked in the first half and so was sent off.

With the visitors down to 10 men it was going to be tough to hang on against a side who were already piling the pressure on, but hang on they did and after a strong, battling, backs against the wall performance The Fed were rewarded with a replay to be played at home on Tuesday 16th.

The draw for the next round had already been made before last nights game and Dunston knew that if they could win this match they would face Spennymoor Town in the next round at home.


A goal in each half from Scott Fenwick was enough to put The Fed through as 2-0 winners which means it will be them who play Spennymoor Town on the 27th September at the UTS Stadium.

It also means that Scott Fenwick has scored 7 goals in this years competition so far, lets hope he can continue his goalscoring heroics in the next round.

Before that date though there is a special night going on at Dunston on the Thursday before the 25th.
Its an evening with John Gibson and get this Malcolm Macdonald.

Apparently tickets are limited but if anyone is interested they are a fiver and your ticket does include a meal of pie and peas.

I don't know who John Gibson is, but after a quick Google I presume he is a Journalist, but Malcolm Macdonald what a legend former Newcastle goal machine, England International who scored 4 goals on his debut.  I don't understand why he gets second billing though, anyway well done Dunston.

Super Mac!!

Up The Fed!!

Dunston get ready for away trip to Marske United

Its Fa Cup weekend and my FA cup team Dunston UTS head to Redcar to play Marske United in the first qualifying round.

Dunston Played Marske in the first game of this season, although they had home advantage The Fed fell to a 3-1 defeat to the Seasiders.

Dunston come into this game on the back of a 1-0 win against Bedlington last week that had propelled The Fed to top of the Northern League division 1 table.  Confidence should be high and no doubt morale is very good as UTS ready themselves for some more FA Cup glory, with Scott Fenwick looking to add to his total of four FA Cup goals already this season.

Marske currently sit in 3rd in the league 2 points behind The Fed,  however the Seasiders from Redcar have 3 games in hand on their rivals.  This game could be a tricky one and being at home could give Marske the edge in what looks to be a close encounter.

Marske have won their last 3 games in the league scoring 8 goals in the process.  Jamie Owens, Reece Kelly and Fred Woodhouse could cause The Fed some problems as they have scored 8, 7 and 5 goals respectively in all competitions.  All three of these players have helped themselves to 3 goals each in the FA Cup so far.

Marske have beaten Billingham town 7-1 and Armthorpe Welfare 4-1 to reach this stage of the competition.

After having a look around Dunston's website I found that former Newcastle and Czech goalkeeper Pavel Srnicek is an Honorary vice president of the club.  Pavel who is a goalkeeping coach at Sparta Prague took on the roll in the close season.  Its good to see a former professional putting sometthing back into football and it must be a big boost to the club to have a former Premier league and International footballer as part of their set up.  He is apparently raising funds by taking part in goalkeeping schools and public speaking events for the club.  His name alone should bring the punters in and hopefully raise some money for the non league club.

Former Geordie favourite holds a post at Dunston UTS

So back to tomorrow and as I said it looks like a tough game on paper.  Hopefully it'll be another win for Dunston and they continue to get through the rounds, but I think in the Seasiders they will be up it against especially with United's free scoring of late.

Up The Fed !!