Bristol City v West Ham United

For anybody who hasn't read this blog before the idea was that I would pick a team from the extra pre-lim round of the FA Cup and follow them as far as they went.  Being a glory hunt though when the team I was following was beaten I would then follow their victors until they were beaten and so on and so on, until finally I would be supporting the winner of the FA Cup on the 30th May.

My journey started on the 15th August as I cheered on Morpeth Town who lost in the first extra pre-lim round to Dunston UTS.  I followed Dunston until their exit to Spennymoor Town.  Spennymoor were my team until they succumbed to AFC Telford United and now I am a fan of Bristol City after they defeated the Bucks in the second round.



So here we are in the 4th round and the Robins are taking on in form Premier League side West Ham.

The Hammers come into this game off the back of a fine second half performance against Hull City with a 3-0 win.

Bristol City are also in fine form after a 2-0 away win against Scunthorpe which sees them second in league one only behind Swindon Town on goal difference.

It took penalties for West Ham to beat fellow premier league side Everton in the last round, The Robins have a Jay Emmanuel Thomas' strikes to thank for their progress to the 4th round after a replay against Doncaster Rovers.

Two goal Jay Emmanuel Thomas looking to add to his FA Cup tally.

It's going to be a tough game for the Robins playing against a team from the Premier league but in the form that City are in it could be a very close game.  The best chance for the Ashton Gate side to progress will be with their home advantage, if the game finishes as a draw then it will be an even tougher task on  a Tuesday or Wednesday night under the floodlights at Upton Park.  If the Robins are going to pull off an upset its going to have to be in my opinion at home on Sunday afternoon in the live game on the BBC.  The BBC can obviously smell an upset as they have made it their featured game.

What's that smell Gary? Is it an upset in the FA Cup.

Bristol City's main hopes again sit firmly on the shoulders of their strikers.  For the Robins to progress they will need on loan Fulham striker Matt Smith and last round hero Jay Emmanuel Thomas to be firing on all cylinders.

On loan striker Matt Smith is looking to silence the Hammers.

West Ham are playing some nice football this season and they have threats from all over the pitch.  Obviously I have no idea what formation or which players Big Sam will go with on Sunday afternoon but with the players at his disposal the team is going to be packed toi the rafters with quality.  After last Sundays game against Hull the first half was quite slow but Allardyce changed it up in the second bringing on Morgan Amalifitano into midfield and pushing Stewart Downing into the hole behind the strikers.  This ultimately made the difference and I wouldn't be surprised if he set up like that for this game.  Chances are that the Irons will start with Andy Carroll and Ener Valencia up front.

Alex Song if fit will be a constant thorn in City's side at the weekend with his tackling and distribution from midfield he is able to cause the very best problems.  If he plays he will be the one to watch.

One to watch.  Alex Song.

As I have said it will take a monumental effort to topple the Hammers on Sunday but that is what the FA Cup is all about.  There are always shocks and if the Robins come into this game full of confidence and the Irons are off their game you never know maybe Jay Emmanuel Thomas will have an even bigger smile on his face then he did in the last round.

The last time these two teams met at Ashton Gate was in a Championship match on 17/4/2012.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw.  James Tomkins gave the Hammers the lead on 25 mins but the Robins equalised just 4 minutes later through Cole Skuse.

Cole Skuse scored last time these two teams met.

Its going to be a massive game on Sunday

Come on City!!

Up the Robins!!

Emmanuel-Thomas is Robin's reliant.

After a 1-1 draw in the first encounter at the Keepmoat stadium in this FA cup tie, the Robins eventually booked their place in the 4th round after Jay Emmanuel-Thomas hit a brace and secured a home tie with Premier league outfit West Ham United.

An early second half goal from defender Luke McCullough at the Keepmoat gave the home side Doncaster Rovers the lead, before Fulham loanee Matt Smith levelled the tie up with just 15 minutes remaining and in turn forced the replay at Ashton Gate.

Fulham Loanee Matt Smith celebrates his equaliser against Doncaster Rovers!!

Both City and Rovers already knew they would be playing either Everton or West Ham in the next round as they took their place on the pitch for their replay.  They also would know for definite which of the two they would play by the end of the night as the two premier league sides were playing their own replay simultaneously.

Doncaster Rovers were always going to be up against it as the tie switched to Ashton Gate, after all they had slumped to a 3-0 defeat to the Robins away back in September.

Although it wasn't 3 goals this time, a goal in both halves from Emmanuel-Thomas was enough to settle the game and give the Robins a convincing 2-0 win in regulation time.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas scored twice to put the Robins through!!

As the players came off the pitch they still didn't know who their opponents in the 4th round would be as the game at Upton Park had ended in stalemate at full time and was going to extra time.

Eventually after a 9-8 penalty shoot out after a 2-2 draw in 120 minutes of football it was West Ham who marched on to earn the right of an away tie in the next round against the might of the  Robins at Ashton Gate.

West Ham keeper Adrian scores winning penalty to book place in next round against Bristol City!!

The glory hunt rolls along and my adopted team are still in it, so now its onto the weekend of the 24th of January and the next round.

Come on City!!

Up the Robins!!

Bristol City

After all the fun of the festive season, it is time to get back to be business.  The business of the FA cup and most of all the business of my FA cup glory hunt.

For anyone who doesn't know back in August I decided to pick a team from the extra preliminary round of the world's greatest cup competition and follow that teams progress.  Being a glory hunt I would in-turn follow the winner of each fixture.  It all started with Morpeth Town on the 15 of August, they lost to Dunston UTS who went on a good little run before being defeated by Spennymoor Town. Spennymoor lost eventually to AFC Telford United and now here I am at the third round supporting Telford's conquerors Bristol City.

Going into their FA cup tie tomorrow with Doncaster Rovers, Bristol City are currently top of league one a point clear of Swindon,  just like a red breasted Robin proudly singing atop a snow covered tree.

The Robins needed a very late winner from Kieran Agaard to dispatch the Conference bottom club Telford in the last round and although they are away tomorrow they should be favourites against the Rovers of Doncaster.

City last played Rovers in the league in September where they ran out 3-0 winners at Ashton Gate.
Goals from Aaron Wilbraham, Mark Little and Kieran Agaard secured the points for the home team on this occassion.

My first memories of Bristol City are from the late 70's, 1979 to be exact.  I remember having a football sticker book (not panini) from that year and the Robins were there in the English football's elite league, division 1.  Unfortunately for me Bristol City were one of the teams I didn't complete, but I do remember a few of the players from that time.

Gerry Gow who went on to play for Manchester City in the 1981 cup final against Spurs

Peter Cormack who had played for Liverpool in the 1975 cup final against Newcastle.

Terry Cooper former England full back who represented his country 20 times including appearances in the 1970 world cup in Mexico.

Joe Royle the former Everton and Manchester City striker who went on to score 18 goals for the club.

The Robins finished the 1978-79 season in 13th place with some memorable scalps along the way, most notably a 1-0 win at Ashton Gate against champions elect Liverpool.  Joe Royle the City scorer.


In stark contrast tomorrows opponents Doncaster Rovers finished the 1978-79 season 22nd in the old division four.  This included a 7-1 away defeat to Bournemouth.

Their team of that season featured Glynn and Ian Snodin, probably more famous for their time at Sheffield Wednesday and Everton respectively in the 80's.  They were managed at the time by former Leeds legend Billy Bremner although Bremner was player manager he only played 5 times for the club.

So back to tomorrow and on to the game in hand.

The Robins are obviously favourites and I really expect to be supporting them in the next round of the cup, but Doncaster who sit 14th in league 1 at present come into this game on the back of a 2-0 home win against Coventry and a creditable 0-0 draw at London Road to Peterborough last time out.

 Rovers will fancy their chances at home and a lot of their hopes will be pinned on their Strikers Curtis Main, Nathan Tyson, Theo Robinson and former Aston Villa player Harry Forrester.  In midfield they have Dean Furman and James Coppinger.  In defence Luke McCullogh and Reece Wabara are likely to start.

Defender Wabara can play anywhere along the back line.

Midfielder Coppinger can always come up with a goal.

Former Villa man Forrester is one to watch.

Like the Robins it was a late goal in the last round against Oldham that secured their place in the third round of the cup.  It could prove to be a close game tomorrow but lets hope Marlon Pack pulls the strings in midfield and the Robins can book their place in the next round.

Up the Robins!!

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/