Swindon Town 3 Burnley 1

Paolo Di Canio's classy underdogs swept Burnley aside to keep his cup dream going.

Swindon boss Di Canio's League One Swindon knocked out Championship leaders Brighton in the first round and followed that up with a shock win at Premier League team Stoke. 

Di Canio has said he hopes to lead his team out at Old Trafford and they had definitely had no problem dealing with Championship side Burnley.

Paul Benson grabbed the first in the 19th minute.

Defender Jay McEveley whipped in a cross from the left and Benson pounced at the far post to bury his third of the season from eight yards.

Swindon doubled the lead three minutes before the break.

Canada international central defender David Edgar lost the ball to Tommy Miller forty yards out and the midfielder fed striker Andy Williams who raced into the box and slotted in his third goal in three games from twelve yards.

Central defender Troy Archibald-Henville sealed the win with his first goal for the club in the 83rd minute when he nodded in a McEveley right wing free kick at the far post.

Former Swindon hitman Charlie Austin had pulled one back for Burnley in the 74th minute.

Austin scored 37 goals in 58 games at the County Ground and looked Burnley's only real threat.

Substitute Sam Vokes played the ball into the box and Austin rounded keeper to tap in his tenth of the season from three yards.

Danish keeper Brian Jensen spared Burnley's blushes with two excellent second half saves.

In the 59th minute Jensen saved with his feet from midfielder Alan Navarro and seven minutes later palmed away an eight yard header from Williams.

Burnley's best spell came in the first nine minutes and Austin was in the thick of it.

Brian Stock stepped over fellow midfielder Ross Wallace's corner in the third minute and Austin fired a low shot just wide.

Four minutes later McEveley stretched to clear off the line after Austin got his head to another Wallace corner. 

In the ninth minute Austin flicked the ball on to Chris McCann, but the midfielder was ruled offside after putting the ball in the net.

Di Canio was delighted to knock out a team from a higher league for the eighth time since taking over at the County Ground and said:

"If we play our football we don't need to worry about any club in the country. The team did well. My football is expensive in terms of energy and today they ran at the right time and in the right way.

We are fit and train hard. I told the players to keep going. With hard work, energy and desire we'll have lots of smiles this year and maybe a big laugh.

I'll take Manchester United away next. We might lose 6-0, but if there is one chance in a million, I'd like to make history for this club."

Burnley boss Eddie Howe said:

"We wanted to win and we're hugely disappointed not to be in the hat.

We're so inconsistent at the moment. The ability of the squad isn't in doubt, but we've got to use it.

Their first goal knocked our confidence and then they were in the ascendency."

My piece from the morning paper

Bristol Rovers 0 Fleetwood Town 0

Neil Etheridge can finally add a league debut to his THIRTY-SEVEN international caps.

Enfield-born keeper Etheridge, 22, has signed a one month loan deal from Fulham and kept a clean sheet in his first Rovers appearance, but he has already notched up a good deal of experience playing for the Phillipines.

Former Chelsea youth prospect Etheridge explained:

"My mum is Filipino which allows me to qualify and I've played in some pretty big fixtures for them since I was eighteen.

We played two semi finals of the South East Asian Cup in Jakarta against Indonesia in 2010 because we didn't have the facilities in the Phillipines at that time. There were 85,000 at the first leg and 100,000 in the second leg. Our support was just family and friends - about ten people!

There aren't many stadiums anywhere that can hold those numbers. It was frightening, but a great experience."

Etheridge was supported in his debut by best pal, injured Manchester United and England defender Chris Smalling, but Etheridge said:

"People take different paths in life, this is mine and I'll take it. I was on the bench for the majority of last season with Fulham. The season before I had slight knock backs with injuries. Now is the time to go out on loan to gain experience and I'll grab it with both hands to help Bristol Rovers as much as I can."

Opposite number Scott Davies shut out Rovers with three great second half saves as Fleetwood continued their good form following promotion from the Conference last term.

One minute after the break Davies blocked striker David Clarkson's powerful twelve yard drive with his feet and five minutes later pushed away midfielder Oliver Norburn's shot at the near post.

In the 64th minute Clarkson was denied again.

German-born winger Fabian Broghammer teed up the former Bristol City hitman from the left, but Davies produced the pick of the bunch when he palmed away Clarkson's shot from  just inside the box.

Fleetwood were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty in the 53rd minute when midfielder Matt Gill seemed to handle, but referee waved away protests after discussing the claims with his assistant.

Striker Andy Mangan had the first effort of the game in the fifth minute, but his 25 yard shot  just cleared the Rovers bar.

And Broghammer came close to breaking the deadlock twice in one first half minute.

Broghammer nodded a cross from fellow winger one yard wide of the far post in the 16th minute and then curled a shot onto the roof of the Fleetwood net from the edge of the box. 

Rovers chief Mark McGhee was delighted with his team's defensive performance, but said:

“That's the first bit of luck we've had this season and Gilly was delighted. It was a strange one because the linesman had has flag up and we assumed there must have been a push or something, but the referee eventually gave a throw in.

If there is any criticism it will be in the forward department where we were not able to score a goal. We will try and do business before next week and try and get someone who will help us put the ball in the back of the net."

Fleetwood manager Micky Mellon was happy with Davies's role in the draw and said:

"He's developing into one of the best keepers in the league.

If you said to me before the game that we'd take a point off Bristol Rovers, I'd have taken it."

A tale of two keepers ...

My piece from yesterday's paper

My clipping from this morning's paper

Cheltenham Town 1 Southend United 3

Sean Clohessy is laying foundations for a promotion push - and planning to build a life after football.

Southend full back Clohessy, 25, drilled home an equaliser just before the break and said:

"We shot ourselves in the foot last season when we should have gone up, but that experience has motivated us all to do it this time."

Clohessy started out in Arsenal's youth team before drifting into non-league with Salisbury City and he revealed:

"My girlfriend has a good job and at one point I thought she'd end up having to keep me! I seriously wondered if I'd make it in the game.

Fortunately I got another chance with Southend a couple of years ago, but it does make you think and I'm now considering getting some building qualifications so I have something to fall back on in the future."

Cheltenham winger Jermaine McGlashan opened the scoring in the 15th minute, but striker Britt Assombalonga nodded the Shrimpers ahead four minutes after the break.

Central defender Mark Phillips, 30, headed home Kevan Hurst's 52nd minute free kick to seal the win and then said:

"I was good to get off the mark. I got eight last season and I'm looking to beat that this season, but the real aim has to be promotion. No-one's talked about us as promotion favourites, but we fancy our chances."

Paul Sturrock had to change tactics to cope with Cheltenham and said:

"These days you need to move players about like you're playing Subbuteo. Once we got the the equaliser we got ourselves into decent positions on the pitch and I thought the boy Hurst was outstanding."

Cheltenham manager Mark Yates said:

"We unhappy with the start we've made and the reality is we've conceded three goals at home again, but it's up to me to put that right and I will."   

My piece from this morning's paper

My clipping from yesterday's paper

Wycombe Wanderers 1 Cheltenham Town 1

Shaun Harrad spared the blushes of team mate Keith Lowe as Cheltenham claimed a deserved point.

Striker Harrad pulled the Robins level from the spot in the 38th minute.

Stuart Lewis tripped fellow midfielder Marlon Pack in the box and Harrad netted his fourth goal in five league games since joining the club on loan from Bury in the summer. Harrad then revealed:

"Marlon fancied it, but I've just had my best ever start to the season and now got four in five games. I wouldn't let go of the ball and so he just gave me a friendly shove and told me not to miss. I wasn't going to."

And Harrad admitted that since joining the Robins on a season long loan from Bury His confidence has returned. He said:

"I'm the sort of player who needs a run of games to feel good and show what I can do. The gaffer is giving me those games"

But the unfortunate Lowe had gifted Wycombe the lead in only the third minute with soft own goal.

Winger Joel Grant sent in a low cross from the right and central defender Lowe put the ball into his own net from eight yards when he should have cleared the danger easily.

Lowe's clanger stirred the Robins into life and Nikki Bull was the busier keeper in the first half.

In the eleventh minute Bull shut out a glanced header from Harrad and less than one minute later blocked winger Jermaine McGlashan with his feet.

One minute a before half time Lowe had a chance to make amends, but deflected a shot from team mate Darren Carter high over the bar - something he'll wish  he'd done at the other end!.

Harrad came close to netting a brace four minutes after the break when he fired over from 20 yards after being teed up by Kaid Mohamed.

And substitute Jeff Goulding should have won the game for Cheltenham in injury time, but he volleyed Billy Jones corner high from ten yards. 

Delighted Cheltenham boss Mark Yates said:

"We gifted a calamitous goal, but we got there action we wanted. We knocked it about superbly."

Wycombe's squad has been hit by injuries, but new striker Jo Kuffour, 30, was more than happy to play through the pain barrier and said:

"I spent the summer keeping fit in my local gym in the park hoping for a new club. It was about ten days ago that I trained with the lads for the first time and I started cramping up after only 35 minutes. There was no way I was coming off. I just love playing football and so when you get the chance, you take it." 

Manager Gary Waddock was missing six first team players and said:

"I'm sure if any other manager was missing that many, they'd find it difficult as well. The players deserve a lot of credit for digging in against a very good side."

My piece from this morning's paper

My clipping from Sunday's edition

Walsall 2 Brentford 2

Clayton Donaldson knocked the stuffing out of Walsall - and the wind out of a snapper.

Moroccan Farid El Alagui headed the ball across the face of goal in the 90th minute and co-striker Donaldson nodded in his fourth goal in five games at the far post.

Bees striker Donaldson, 28, revealed:

"Our local paper's photographer has been asking me to run towards him when I score, but I didn't see him and I ran straight over him. He'll have got a good close up!"

Midfielder Jonathan Douglas pulled one back when he controlled the ball with his chest in the edge of the box before volleying in his first of the season in the 86th minute and Donaldson, 28, admitted:

"We'd both missed a few chances and so when I scored the first thing I did was look to the linesman to make sure he had his flag down. I thought I was bound to be offside the way things were going.

I'm pleased the way the season has started though. I usually start slowly, but that's four goals in four games so far and so things are looking good."

George Bowerman had taken just a minute to help put Walsall two goals ahead.

In the 28th minute Bowerman raced onto a pass from defender Andy Taylor before cutting in from the left wing to feed winger Jamie Paterson who drilled in his first of the campaign from close to the penalty spot.

Bowerman then helped himself to his second of the season in the 29th minute.

Local lad Bowerman out-muscled central defender Tony Craig and left him on his backside before hitting a low shot past helpless keeper Simon Moore from 14 yards and said:

"The experts tipped us for relegation, but that's just motivated us to prove them wrong."

But the Bees had dominated before Peterson's opener.

Douglas glanced a header over from the edge of the box in the eighteenth minute and Donaldson blew a gilt-edged chance when he failed to connect properly from fourteen yards one minute later.

El Alagui came close in the 70th minute, but the summer signing from Falkirk saw his shot hit the bar from twelve yards.

Brentford boss Uwe Rosler said:

"I'm happy with the fight back. We showed character, but overall I'm not happy with the point. We gifted them two goals. Credit to them for the fightback but overall I am not happy with a point. I didn’t say much at half time. I just told them all to go out and turn it round. Sometimes players have to take responsibility themselves."

Saddlers manager Dean Smith admitted:

"When we went two goals up it looked as though we would run away with the game. We didn't want half time to come. It allowed our visitors to regroup. I'm disappointed because we've let a two goal lead slip, but we have to take positives from the game. We're a young team still and maybe that played a part."

My piece from yesterday's paper

My clipping from this morning's paper