Oxford City 1 Redbridge 2

When you're carrying a dodgy bad back and pumped full of painkillers, the last thing you need is a damp night in the stands watching a football game, but I have to say I'd forgotten all about it by the time extra time kicked off.

Whichever team won this one was going to make a little history and in the end it was Redbridge who came back from a goal down - Ben Bradbury scoring the winner. An ecstatic Bradbury gushed:

"This is the proudest day of my life. To go one-nil down, come back and then win it in extra time is unbelievable."

Talking to a couple of their lads after the game, it turns out that the FA Cup and FA Trophy runs they have been involved in this year have (or will) net them in the region of £100,000 - a sum that many lower league full time outfits would be more than happy with.

The excitement in the Redbridge camp last night as they prepared for the long coach trip home was there for all to see and manager Terry Spillane summed it up when he said:

"It's dream time. I'm elated and delighted. Everyone thought we'd blown it when we drew at home, but we love being underdogs because basically that's what we are."

Well, if he likes being the underdog, Spillane should enjoy the next FA Cup game then. Redbridge now travel to moneybags and League Two promotion favourites Crawley Town in the second round and, while it would appear to be a tonking waiting to happen on paper, they do have nothing to lose and so I wish them well.


As regular readers will know, I cover a decent number of games at the Kassam watching Oxford United during a season and it struck me that - if they have a couple of quid spare - the non-travelling Us fans could do worse than nip along to watch Oxford City for their football fix.

City have a nice set up, a friendly staff and a former United legend in Mike Ford managing the team. Oh, and the facilities are new and being developed all of the time.

The quality of the football is obviously well below the level of League Two and while Ford was non too impressed with last night's performance, the desire, passion and support is definitely there - albeit on a smaller scale.

Despite being obviously annoyed, Ford said:

"I have no complaints. On the night they were the better team and good luck to them against Crawley."

I don't get along to many non-league clubs these days unless they are involved in the FA Cup as these two were last night, but I've made a note to pop along to watch City the next time I get a day off.

My clipping from this morning's paper

Oxford City v Redbridge

I'm off to see the battle of the minnows tonight in the FA Cup 1st round.

These clubs played out a goalless draw in the original fixture and so a result is on the cards this evening even if they do have to go to extra time and penalties on a cold, wet and foggy evening in Oxford.

Both teams have larger league neighbours in Oxford United and Dagenham & Redbridge and so this is a rare opportunity for them to edge into the spotlight.

The winners face an away trip to League Two moneybags Crawley Town in the next round. Not the glamour tie that many would have hoped for and, with the televised fixtures already announced, there will be no extra dosh on offer. However, for clubs of this size, the revenue for reaching the first round is useful in itself - let alone the more lucrative second round bunce.

The only other time I have seen Oxford City was when a certain Bobby Moore was in charge many, many years ago. And so, to get my bearings, I popped along to the club yesterday evening.

City have a decent sized ground and I hope that it will be packed tonight. There is no real rivalry between United and City and so with a bit of luck some of the Us fans will drop in to cheer the home side along.

I don't really know too much about either side - and so expect to spend the rest of the day with my friends Google and Wikipedia - but despite the weather, I'm looking forward to watching a good, honest game between two sets of players who obviously play for the love of the game, the passion and yes, maybe an outside chance of a moment in the sun.

Wycombe Wanderers 0 Bournemouth 1

When Stuart Beavon stepped up to ram home an equaliser from the spot, most people expected that would be the outcome. Beavon is a class act and has been Mr. Reliable for the Chairboys this season, but on this occasion the ball flew high and wide and an hour later the Cherries headed for the south coast with all three points.

As it eventually turned out, Bournemouth's leading scorer Marc Pugh had already settled the game with the only goal minutes before Beavon's miss and his club's shaky start to the season and recent improvement shows that hard work and team spirit can indeed turn things around.

Football can be a fast changing business. Bournemouth striker Wes Thomas - who left Cheltenham for Crawley in the summer - is a case in point.

I caught up with Wes after the game and while he kept the reasons to himself, told me that what he had thought would be a dream move to Crawley, just didn't turn out that way. After a few games he was loaned out to Bournemouth and then suddenly found his career was back on track. He'll be joining the club on a two and a half year deal in January, but given the effort he put in on Saturday, he's already bought into manager Lee Bradbury's plans.

The same goes for every other Bournemouth player and none more so than winger Pugh who worked the flanks tirelessly both in attack and in support of his full back.

Pugh was the sole survivor of Eddie Howe's regime to start on Saturday and was hotly tipped to leave the club last summer, but told me how he sees Bradbury as someone with the same ability as Howe. His commitment on the pitch was reflected in his words and, with the likes him, Thomas and their team mates, Bradbury can expect his side to carry on their rise up the table.

If Wycombe can take a leaf out of Bournemouth's book, there is no reason why they can't do the same. They just need a little change of luck. As someone once said, the harder you work, the luckier you get.

 

My clipping from this morning's paper

Wycombe v Bournemouth

I've been asked to cover the game at Adams Park tomorrow where Bournemouth are the visitors and this is one of the games that the Chairboys really should be looking to win if they are to survive their first season back in League One.

Bournemouth threatened to upset the odds and were pushing for promotion last season, but they are finding life a little tougher this time around. Having said (typed) that, they have taken seven points from their last three league games and so are no mugs.

I hope that Wycombe's defeat to Fleetwood in the FA Cup last weekend has left no psychological scars on the squad because there is no doubt in my mind that - on the evidence I have seen this season - they are more than capable of beating the drop.

Apparently some Wycombe fans have started to get on manager Gary Waddock's back - ah, what short memories we football fans have.

The Buckinghamshire Advertiser and Bucks Free Press have quoted Waddock as saying:

“I’ve had a lot of challenges since I’ve been at this club. This is another challenge for me but I’m one to roll my sleeves up and battle through it. You become stronger as an individual and as a group when you come through these periods. People will say what they like, all I’m doing is concentrating on trying to turn this around.”

Wycombe have a reputation for bringing through good young managers and the board will know that - despite their current problems - Waddock is precisely that. As far as I am aware, the players are also solidly behind him and keeper Nikki Bull has said in his column for the Bucks Free Press:

"The one man I felt most sorry for was the gaffer, a man who has brought nearly every single one of us to the football club, put his faith in us, shown us loyalty and above all, shown us complete respect as players. Unfortunately this respect has not been repaid to him by us as players in our performances in the last couple of months.

When results are bad at a football club, the manager is always an easy place to start in terms of looking to put things right, but in this case, the responsibility for these performances lies solely at our feet. The manager and the coaching staff prepare us in the best possible way and give us all the tools and facilities to go out and produce on a Saturday.

The one thing the gaffer cannot coach is heart, passion and will to win once a player goes over that white line. It’s time for us as a group to take a long hard look in the mirror and ask ourselves some tough questions. Are we doing enough? Are we as committed as we could be? Are we going through the motions knowing full well our wages will still be in our accounts come the end of the month?"

His words speak volumes when the question. "Has the manager lost the dressing room?" is asked. In my experience, if you have an honest bunch of players who take their responsibilities seriously and stick together, then, more often than not, you'll come out of the other side smiling. From what Nikki says, Waddock has no worries on that score.

And Cherries boss Lee Bradbury is certainly not taking Wycombe for granted. He told the local newspaper The Daily Echo:

"Gary Waddock has got his team working hard and the crowd really get behind them. They have got some good players and some good goalscorers so it will be another difficult game."

A handshake? Really Sepp?

Another gaff from the man who heads up world football. Seemingly untouchable FIFA President Sepp Blatter has decreed that a handshake following racial abuse should be enough to make everything right again. The man is a joke - a bad one.
He then decides that everyone misunderstood him. No Sepp, we understand just fine. You are a dinosaur from another generation at best or a latent racist at worst. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and presume it's the former. Either way, he's not fit to head up the world's greatest game, played by people in every nation, of every religion and all shades of skin tone.
I'm a fortunate middle-England, white guy and have never suffered the racist abuse or attacks that some of my friends have endured, but bigotry in any form needs fighting and not brushing off with a shake of the hand. And it needs fighting by all of us.
We've all played football at different levels and many of us might have lost our rags during a game and lashed out, but giving someone a whack in retaliation is an instinctive thing. Hurling racial abuse takes a little more mental effort (ironic given the low IQ of the average racist) and - in my humble view - belies a person's true feelings.
Most people who are as crass as Blatter is (let's not forget his comments about women's football and what they should, or rather shouldn't be wearing) would have been out on their ears by now, but this man doesn't answer to anyone having surrounded himself with 'yes' men who appear to be in his debt for whatever reason.
I wonder what some of them think about Blatter this evening. Then again, maybe their bulging bank accounts somehow prevent them from worrying too much about morality.

Let's not get too carried away ... or too negative

England play Sweden tonight after what I thought was a decent performance against the World Champions Spain on Saturday, but I was as perplexed at the negative comments of the experts (especially those on the radio), as I was when people started raving about the squad when we qualified for last year's World Cup.

As soon England had qualified, too many people were suggesting they could "go all the way" and seemed to conveniently forget that we had played no nation of any real note in the qualifying groups.

The same thing has happened this time and so I hope that as we close in on the Euro finals next year, everyone remains realistic about our chances.

On the flip side, I actually thought that the England team did incredibly well against Spain. The side was missing at least six first choice players and their replacements did 'a job'. Spain are head and shoulders above every other side in the world at the moment - not just England - and so it's up to the coaches to find the right tactics to deal with them. They did and the players implemented them perfectly.

If they had tried to slug it out toe to toe with Spain, they would have been torn apart. But they played to their strengths and nicked the win. So good on 'em.

For me, tonight's game against Sweden though is probably more of an even match and will hopefully tell us more about our attacking options. Mind you England are more than capable of underestimating them in maybe the same way that the Spanish underestimated the resolve of the England team.

Hereford United 0 Yeovil Town 3

This scoreline probably flattered Yeovil, although only by the odd goal. They definitely deserved the win and now go on to face Fleetwood in the next round. At first glance you would think that Hereford will feel they haven't lost out by too much, but if ITV see the potential for a Cup upset, it could mean the Bulls lose out on what would have been useful TV revenue. Ah well, no point crying over what could have been.

Hereford definitely missed the twin wing threats of Leslie and Barkhuizen and I suspect that Nathan Elder, in particular, will have missed them more than most while he battled away on his todd up front.

And talking of 'Todds', I must have missed the news that Andy Todd has now left the club. A shame as his experience was proving pretty useful in Hereford's league revival.

But back to the Cup tie.

Both sides came into the game with concerns about their league positions, but I must say that none of the Yeovil players I spoke to had that haunted look in their eyes that often accompanies a relegation threaten team.

I had a chat with all three goal scorers (Ed Upson, Andy Williams and Dominic Blizzard) and they were all very upbeat about the spirit in the camp. Blizzard said it just didn't compare to the 'chaos' he witnessed at Bristol Rovers as they slid out of League One last season.

One of the BullsNewsBlog guys tweeted me during the game to point out that Williams had started his career at Hereford and was brought through the ranks by his dad who lost his job in the summer. Consequently I thought that Andy might have been holding a personal grudge, but he convinced me that nothing was further from the truth. He was obviously pleased to have scored a real cracker, but took no pleasure in helping dump the Bulls out of the Cup.

Hereford may well miss out on the money that a Cup run brings, but frankly, the priority is still to stay in the football league and to do this they must win the games that they are allowed to field their most effective players in - loanees or otherwise.

To be fair to McQuilkin, I thought he had a very good thirty minutes or so on the right flank, but even though he was quick and tricky, he didn't support Elder in the manner he has become accustomed to.

On the other wing Sam Clucas looked a little unsure on his professional debut. It was a big day for the lad and didn't go the way he would have wanted it to, but the fella sitting a few rows in front of me who shouted that he was rubbish should rein it in a bit and give the kid a chance.

All in all, a bad day for Hereford and a confidence booster for Yeovil who were probably in need of it just a little bit more.

My clipping from this morning's paper

Hereford v Yeovil - FA Cup 1st Round

Unlike the JPT and even the League Cup, there is something about the FA Cup, its history and tradition that gets a football fan's juices flowing.

As an exiled Newcastle fan myself, I can think of no better place to watch an FA Cup tie than Edgar Street, knowing as I do, that I'll get through the day without the Bulls giant killing act of 1972 even being mentioned!

Ah well, that's football. You have to be able to take the rough with the smooth and just move on. And after nearly forty years - and the memory of tears flowing as I watched the teleprinter results come in on Final Score - I think I'm just about ready to do so!

Ironically, I have become a bit of a fan of Hereford in recent years (as I have for most of the teams on my patch) and I'd love to see them progress to the next round and edge closer to a big money tie. The way the lads there have reacted, following a less than impressive start to the league campaign, has been pretty impressive and shows what good spirit, graft and team work can achieve.

The excellent Bulls News blog (http://bullsnews.blogspot.com) is reporting that keeper David Cornell will be available for selection before going off to Armenia to sit on the bench for Wales U-21 tussle.

Between the opposition sticks, Yeovil goal keeping coach Gareth Stewart, 31, is set to make his debut in place of Marek Stech who is off on U-21 duty himself - the Czechs being a little less accommodating the the Welsh.

Meanwhile Hereford manager Jamie Pitman will be locked in a tactical battle with former team mate Terry Skiverton. Pitman spent a couple of seasons playing for the Somerset club - two goals in 34 outings - and so this adds a little extra spice to the fixture.

Yeovil seem to be struggling in League One this term and on the face of it you would have to think that they are there for the taking. However, Skiverton bleeds green and white and will have his players up for this game. A decent FA Cup run for a team struggling in the league can often act as a catalyst for the bread and butter stuff.

Another super blog, Yeovil's Ciderspace (http://www.ciderspace.co.uk/) has reported Skiverton as calling this a 'must win' game. He also said:

"I've not had a cup run, and I've been very frustrated with past seasons, and what we've done in the cups. So I'm putting a bit of pressure on the boys that we've got to get through. It's a very important game for us, and it's one where we've gone into the cup competitions before and I've said it's a week off - no, this is a must-win game for us. We want a good cup run. I definitely want a cup run, and we're going to make sure that we do everything to get through this round."


It's going to be a tight game I feel, but I'm backing Hereford to build on their recent revival. Whatever happens though, at 4.45pm I'm certain I won't be able to shake off memories of that bloody teletext from the 3rd round replay a lifetime ago. :-)

A reminder of what it's really all about... Officers and men of the 17th Middlesex

I'm unashamedly cutting and pasting a Daily Mail piece by Alan Fraser from yesterday's paper below. Given that it is Remembrance Day and it is a well written and timely article, I hope this is okay with you all. A link to my own blog post from last year on 11/11 follows at the foot of Alan's article. I'll be posting a more trite piece on Hereford v Yeovil later in advance of my trip to Edgar Street tomorrow. Best, Jeff

*******

The Football Battalion never played at Flanders Field where the poppy grew long before becoming a symbol of remembrance. But the professionals and supporters who joined the 17th Service (Football) Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, to use its full name, lost a lot more than a game at the Somme.

They lost many of their 600-strong team, including, to name just one of the dead, Evelyn Lintott, the England international and Queens Park Rangers stalwart.

Which is why FIFA - though needing a deal of persuading - simply had to unearth sufficient common sense for a compromise which will allow the England players to attach commemorative poppies to their black armbands for the game against Spain on Saturday.

First Football', as the battalion became known, was formed on December 12 1914, by William Joynson-Hicks, later a post-war Home Secretary. England centre half Frank Buckley, better known as 'Major Frank Buckley', who played for a host of clubs, including both Manchester teams and Birmingham City, was the first to join.

Three weeks earlier in Scotland, the Hearts team, then the best in the country, joined the British Army en masse. Seven players never returned home.

There had been an initial slowness among the professionals to enlist. Contracts were said to be the problem, with clubs keen to keep playing to offer a release for the general public from the daily horrific tales from the front line. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stepped in with an appeal.

'If a footballer has strength of limb, let them serve and march in the field of battle,' he declared. And they did. By March 1915, 122 professional footballers had joined the regiment, including the entire Clapton (now Leyton) Orient team.

Walter Tull, of Tottenham Hotspur and Northampton Town, enlisted and went on to become the first black combat officer in the British Army.

Vivian Woodward, the prolific-scoring England centre forward and Chelsea hero, was another. It was his presence which persuaded many a Blues supporter to head for the front with recruiting posters specifically - some said shamelessly - targeting the football fraternity.

Major Buckley later wrote that by the mid-1930s more than 500 of the original 600 men in the Football Battalion were dead, either killed in action or dying from wounds suffered during the fighting.

Last October, a Footballers' Battalion Memorial was unveiled in Longueval in France for the 17th Battalion and the 23rd, which was formed in 1915. We shall all remember them.

Taken from yesterday's Daily Mail. Follow the link (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2059660/Officers-men-17th-Middlesex--Football-Battalion.html)%20to see the full article including photographs of these brave men.


My piece from last year: "Football's just .. football." : http://jefftaplin.blogspot.com/2010/11/footballs-just-football.html

St. James's Burke

And so the greed of the money men ensures another kick in the nuts for the average football fan.


What Mike Ashley at Newcastle and all the other football owners fail to appreciate - as they sell off history and tradition for a few extra quid - is that it is precisely those traits that helped to attract big foreign television audiences in the first place. If they want to kill the game they should carry on taking a leaf out of Sport USA's book.

Look at the NBA and the NFL.

Go into a bar just about anywhere in the States now and take a look around at how many people watch the games. To be fair the end of season play-off games generate a little more interest, but I've lost count of the number of times I've been sitting in a busy bar in the US and wondered why I'm the only one interested in watching sports I barely understand.

The reason, of course, is that no-one else is from out of town and they all have better things to do - which in itself is a condemnation of the entertainment (for that is basically what it is supposed to be) on offer.

When punters hardly give the television in the bar a second glance, then it's time for the landlord to question the point of paying for the service. And when that happens the whole house of cards starts to fall.

When you start messing with the product against the wishes of the customer, they stop buying. Given the current economic climate, which is set to stay or get worse for some time yet, people are already looking for excuses to save money on things that aren't essential. When you have kids to feed and clothe and mortgage payments to keep up with, football isn't a priority anymore - even up in Toon. Upsetting the punters just makes it that bit easier for them to make that tough decision.
And it's not just up in Newcastle where they are desperately trying to squeeze and a few extra quid as the well gradually goes dry. Chelsea is allegedly going to follow suit and who's to say Old Trafford won't be next?
"Unthinkable", say the loyal red Mancs. Really? If Ashley is looking for 10 million to rename St. James’s Park, there must be a Glazier somewhere asking that unthinkable question.
Ultimately though, I guess I could live with some of our great and historical sporting venues being renamed, if it wasn't for the fact that it just smacks of selling off the family silver on the Titanic before she goes down.
It will be an interesting to see which company dares risk the wrath of the Geordie public by putting their company name on the stadium. I estimate a downturn in sales across the whole of the north east for whichever company takes the plunge. Newcastle's fans won't wish to buy any goods from a company that has effectively stripped the club of its name and Sunderland fans won't want to buy anything from a company whose name is associated with Newcastle.

Last men standing

Following last night's JPT fixtures, only Swindon remain in the competition from the sides on my 'patch'.

Oxford lost by one goal to Southend, but lost two players to red cards in the process (the Shrimpers also had a player dismissed). And while neither striker Tom Craddock - sent off for fighting - or keeper Wayne Brown (handling outside of his area) are part of Chris Wilder's starting eleven, the Oxford boss will see their loss for the next few games as the biggest negative of the night.

Wilder will have eyes on promotion and so, while I'm sure that no-one at the Kassam will have been happy about losing last night, he'll be able to concentrate his efforts on the league and have a little fun in the FA Cup.

Cheltenham also went down at home - by two goals to Barnet. Mark Yates called the performance "hopeless", but blamed himself for making too many changes. Mind you, just like Wilder, I suspect that Yates will be happy to focus on the league. His first team are going well in the league and playing good football, but they haven't got a lot of money to throw about at Whaddon Road and so, just like Oxford, the focus needs to be the bread and butter stuff. A play-off final at Wembley  is likely to generate more interest among the green welly brigade in the Cotswolds than the final of the JPT anyway.

Paolo di Canio's troops continued their march towards JPT glory by seeing off the threat of AFC Wimbledon. They eventually got through to the next round by winning 3-1 on pens. The score was 1-1 after 90 minutes, Oliver Risser scoring for the Robins with a long range effort.

Keeper Phil Smith was the Town hero of the evening saving three of the Womble penalties.

Poppy goes - the weasels

As readers of this site will no doubt be aware, I'm not a fan of FIFA.
The governing body for world football has now decreed that the England team should not have the Remembrance Day poppy symbol on their shirts as it is against the rules. Ah well, rules is rules I suppose.
However, while driving back from Bristol City on Saturday, one of the more intelligent callers suggested that the England players wear poppy armbands and why not?
Sticking a poppy on the shirt now will just cause confrontation (ironic given that the message of the poppy symbol is remembrance so that we avoid confrontation), but if there are no rules stopping the players wearing armbands, then why not?

Bristol City 3 Burnley 1

Crisis? What crisis?

I hadn't seen too much of City before my visit to Ashton Gate on Saturday and must admit I feared the worst on the drive down. They hadn't won at home all season, appeared to be rooted in the bottom three and usually when that's the case, the atmosphere at a club is never nice.

Last season I witnessed it at Swindon, Bristol Rovers and Walsall for much of the season and even though I'm a neutral, I get to know quite a few of the players and wouldn't wish any of them ill.

However, it appears that the arrival of new boss Derek McInnes from St. Johnstone has galvanised the troops.

Liam Fontaine told me in the car park that while goalscorer Stephen Pearson - on loan from Derby - was obviously out to impress, everyone else was doing the same thing. Fontaine also told me how proud he was to be given the skipper's armband by McInnes and personally I think that was a master stroke on the manager's part as I don't think I've ever seen Fontaine giving anything less than 100% for the team - even when he's had a bad day at the office which is pretty rare.

Pearson admitted that he was hoping to win a permanent deal at the club after his two month loan deal finished and described it as a "long job interview". He admitted he didn't know too much about the goal and thought it came off his, er, lower abdominal area, but his 50 yard dash merited the final touch no matter which part of his anatomy it came off.

I also caught up with Albert Adomah in the car park and told him that just before he scored, I felt it just wasn't going to be his day. He was terrifying the Burnley defence with his runs, but to their credit (and his frustration) they kept getting a toe in just as he was about to deliver the final ball.

His goal was a real cracker though when it came, although Albert himself described it as a lazy strike.

He told me he was slipping and also felt a defender closing in on him and so hit a "lazy shot". McInnes probably won't be encouraging his or any of the other players to take the lazy option, but equally he won't mind if a few more goals like this one go in.

A word for super-sub Brett Pitman.

Pitman is quite a laid back lad, but he obviously wants to make a name for himself and has now scored three goals this season without having a decent run in the side. His big problem would appear to be that he has Nicky Maynard ahead of him in the pecking order and Nicky is no slouch himself. For me, accommodating them both is the real answer for City in the long term (assuming they can keep hold of Maynard). Both lads are natural goalscorers and put in hard working shifts for the team as well. In fact Maynard was a real unsung hero on Saturday and I know McInnes rated his performance. I wonder if he can persuade Nicky to stay at the club now. The next few months will be interesting.

Finally, I felt like I was in a minority of one on Saturday evening and was banging on to anyone who would listen about the central midfield partnership between Marvin Elliott and Neil Kilkenny.

Elliott put himself about, took the knocks and kept things ticking over while Kilkenny was prodding, probing and pushing City forward at every opportunity. I thought the pair of them were excellent and - without wishing to downplay the efforts of anyone else - thought they gave the Robins the platform they needed for this victory.

My clipping from this morning's Sun