Cheltenham Town 1 Exeter City 0

Jamie Cureton played the 'ghost of Christmas past' to haunt his former club.

Veteran striker Cureton, 38, scored over forty goals in three spells with Exeter and was released by them in the summer, but he showed them he still has what it takes when he struck in the twelfth minute.

Scott Brown's long punt forward was flicked on by striker Byron Harrison and Cureton darted into the left side of the box to roll home his fifth of the campaign.

Cheltenham manager Mark Yates was especially pleased with the Scrooge mentality shown by his players. He said:

"Scotty's the best keeper in our league and credit to the players - they put their bodies on the line to make it eleven games unbeaten."

Brown was excellent as Exeter cranked up the pressure and he kept out two fierce drives from striker Tom Nichols in the second period while winger Alan Gow hit the outside of the post with a twenty yard free kick.

And in the 93rd minute Brown made sure of the win when he blocked a goal bound shot from midfielder Liam Sercombe.

Cureton came close to scoring in the third minute, but his snap shot on the turn flew just wide of Artur Krysiak's goal.

Krysiak shut out the Robins twice before Cureton's winner when he saved David Noble's shot at the foot of his post and then beat away a long range effort from Matt Richards.

Exeter boss Paul Tisdale has seen his team win one league game in the last ten and slide down the table, but he said:

"We actually hit the target on a lot of occasions and we feel hard done by. We have to make sure it doesn't knock our confidence as there are a lot of good young players in that team."

My piece from the morning paper

Bristol Rovers 2 Portsmouth 0

Ollie Clarke's first senior goal should guarantee him a peaceful family Christmas.

Bristol-born midfielder Clarke was teed up to bury a sweet half volley by pal Eliot Richards and gave Rovers the lead five minutes before the break. He then revealed:

"I ran towards my Mum and Dad when I scored. My Dad is always winding me up by asking if there's any chance of me hitting the target and things like that, so this will keep him quiet. He'll think it's quite special though and will keep me grounded."

Rookie Clarke, 21, has already had to overcome a cruciate injury and knows how lucky he is to still be at the club. He explained:

"There were about seven or eight of us who signed on the same day in 2009 and only Eliot and I are still here. It's a good he set it up because we've got a sort of bond. The lads even hammer us about having a bit of a 'bro-mance' going!

"I was injured in August 2011and my contract ran out at the end of that season. Paul Buckle was manager, but Mark McGhee took over gave me another contract and John Ward has now given me my chance in the first team."

My piece from this morning's paper

Battling striker David Clarkson sealed the win in the 77th minute.

Midfielder Oliver Norburn left Pompey flat-footed with a defence splitting pass and Clarkson darted into the left side of the box before burying his fourth goal of the campaign from twelve yards.

Clarkson and Norburn combine for the second goal

Rovers manager John Ward said:

"It was a really good team performance and it would be wrong to single out players because they all did well. The attitude from the team was absolutely spot on. Two great strikes and two good saves from their keeper put us in a good position to win the game."

Portsmouth have now lost two games since Richie Barker took charge and the former Crawley boss already has an eye on January's transfer window. He blasted:

"Too many players are going through the motions for me and not doing the right things. There's no point hiding - they've got 10 days to save their Portsmouth careers. They are where they are because they don't do the right things.If you can't change the mindset of some people, you've got to change the people."

"I'm not sure the players recognise how lucky they are to be playing for such a good club. If you can't change the mindset of some people, you've got to change the people."

Portsmouth keeper Trevor Carson had kept his side in the hunt with three great saves early in the second half - the one below from a Clarkson free kick.

Carson shows his class

In the 53rd minute Carson acrobatically turned a Clarkson twenty yard free kick past his post at full stretch and six minutes later he beat away a twelve yard drive from striker Richards.

Carson then did well to get down to another deflected shot from Norburn.

Both teams had chances to score before the break.

Rovers keeper Steve Mildenhall saved a low deflected shot from winger Jed Wallace and Clarkson cracked a shot against the Pompey bar with Carson beaten.

My piece from the Sunday paper

Dave Kitson

After the game on Saturday Dave Kitson revealed to me that he was hanging up his boots at the end of the season. This is of course an entirely personal decision, and should he go through with his plans to retire from playing, I think he can look back on a career that most professionals would be proud of.

Dave isn’t convinced though and told me that he should have achieved more. Well we could all achieve more than we have, but we can also look back and be pleased with what we have done. Winning promotion to what is generally regarded as the best league in the world (in 2006 with Reading) and holding your own against the cream of world football isn’t too shoddy Dave. I’m sure that there are lads he is currently playing with - and against - who would give their right arms for his achievements.

Having written that – and despite the fact that it would bugger up my little exclusive – I hope that he changes his mind. True he is 34 years old in January, but there is no doubt in my mind that he could perform in League One quite comfortably and (should he win promotion with Oxford this term) add a few more highlights to his CV.

Dave speaks as he finds. If you ask him a question, he gives you a straight answer rather than worrying about what others might think.

He was in trouble with the FA for doing this a few weeks ago when he commented on a referee’s behavior following a nasty injury to team mate Alfie Potter. If he had been abusive I could have understood the FA’s position. As it was, he was measured in his criticism and didn’t lose control, and in my view, the ‘suits’ over-reacted.

Don’t get me wrong, he doesn’t go out of his way to court controversy. He just speaks honestly and frankly and most fans like that. Too many people in the public eye these days speak in sound bites or say what they think they are expected to say. Football fans love to see someone with a bit of character and Kitson, for me, fits that bill.

He is an eloquent and thoughtful man off the field and shows a great deal of passion on it. Oxford fans have seen his commitment to the cause at first hand this season and with a little persuasion, who knows, he may sign on for another campaign. We’re all allowed a change of heart … even if it does make newspaper reporters look daft! 

Oxford United 2 Dagenham & Redbridge 1

My piece from the Sunday paper

Dave Kitson is hanging up his boots next summer, but is determined to go out on a high.

Striker Kitson met a beautifully flighted 93rd minute cross from right back David Hunt to nod in his fourth goal of the season from six yards.nodded in a 93rd minute winner and keep Oxford on top of the table - he then revealed he is calling time on his playing career.

Former Portsmouth and Stoke hit man Kitson won promotion to the Premier League with Reading in 2006 and said:

"I think that at the end of this season that might be enough for me. I'll be 34 in January and you reach a stage when you feel that's enough. I'm not saying I have nothing to prove, but in my opinion I didn't achieve enough. I just think there's so much more for me to do.

"I'd like to see what I can do in another environment. You never know though, I might get an offer to do something in football, if someone's mad enough, but we'll see.'

Kitson will now miss the next two games after picking up his tenth booking of the season, but also feels the squad needs strengthening for the promotion push. He said:

"I've only got a few games left to play professionally and now I've got to miss some of them. I'm annoyed with myself. You'd think I would've learned by now.

"I think we need a couple of players, but they've got to be the right quality. Historically - at any level - when you get yourself into this position, why not? Why not try and achieve something? It would be great to sign off with a promotion."

Kitson also paid tribute to Hunt and revealed:

"That cross was no fluke. David was out their after training hitting 60 or 70 crosses for Asa Hall and Johnny Mullins so they could practice their heading and each one was just as good as the one he put over for me."

Hit man James Constable had opened the scoring with his eighth of the campaign in the eighth minute.

Midfielder Danny Rose's deep cross was nodded back across the face of goal by central defender Johnny Mullins and Constable fired in a volley on the spin.

But striker Rhys Murphy stunned Oxford seconds before the break when he lifted a shot over keeper Ryan Clarke from the left angle of them box for his eleventh goal of the season.

Winger Ryan Williams should have scored in the 65th minute, but defender Ferni Ilesanmi threw himself in front of the shot to make the block.

Keeper Chris Lewington was forced to get down and make two saves from winger Josh Ruffels and another from Constable as Oxford controlled the game in the first twenty minutes.

Daggers only effort before Murphy's equaliser came on the half hour when Clarke was forced to palm away a stinging low shot from impressive former West Ham winger Zavon Hines.

Oxford boss Chris Wilder was happy with the win and said:

"We've got some first class characters here and we just kept on going. I was definitely disappointed with their goal which was self inflicted and I barked at them for thirty seconds at half time, but the mark of a good side is how they react in situations like that."

"It's a competitive league as seen yet again with Dagenham who are an unfashionable side, but they gave it a right go. It was a very tough game and they probably deserved to beat us because it was a containment game for us at times. We were sloppy with our defending and they out muscled us at times"

Dagenham manager Wayne Burnett said:

"I don't think we deserved to win the game, but coming so far - and they scored in the 91st minute - it's hard to take."

... and today's clipping

Tamworth 1 Bristol City 2

My piece from this morning's paper

JET's rocket helped silence the Lambs and give Steve Cotterill a winning start as City boss.

Cotterill replaced Sean O'Driscoll last week as manager of League One strugglers City and was a relieved man after seeing his new team see off the Conference Premier outfit to notch up City's first win in five games. He said:

"It's Tamworth's day and all credit to them as we knew they would make it difficult. Not many teams would've come here and played silky football. We would've liked a clean sheet and perhaps could've scored four before we got our second. It was nice to draw Watford at home in the next round, but that one's way in the distance and we've got plenty of other games to think about before then. I haven't stopped since I joined the club last week and now I'm just looking forward to a decent night's sleep."

Former Arsenal youth prospect Jay Emmanuel-Thomas - known as JET - settled City's nerves six minutes before the break to maintain the club record of never being beaten by non-league opposition in the Cup.

JET picked the ball up 35 yards from goal and dazzled the Tamworth defence with several step-overs before blasting in a long range shot past helpless keeper Cameron Belford for his fifteenth goal of the season.

Skipper Sam Baldock took advantage of a slip from Ben Richards-Everton to chip Belford and seal the win in the 83rd minute with his ninth goal of the season.

Until then, Belford - son of manger Dale and grandson of kit man Buster - had been protected by impressive central defensive Richards-Everton and Duane Courtney as City were restricted to a handful of half-hearted efforts.

Gutsy Tamworth managed a scrappy 91st minute consolation and put City's nerves on edge in injury time when Andy Todd just managed to force the ball over the line following a goalmouth scramble.

City cranked up the pressure in the second period and Baldock missed three chances  within eight minutes of the restart while midfielder Scott Wagstaff missed an open goal from 30 yards after Baldock had charged down a Belford clearance.

But the Lambs could have scored in the 54th minute when former Port Vale striker Justin Richards outpaced the defence to race on to a long ball from right back Wayne Thomas, but then dragged his shot wide with only keeper Steve Parish to beat.

Tamworth boss Dale Belford was proud of his players and the former Aston Villa apprentice keeper said:


"I think we gave a real good account of ourselves and showed we can compete against sides from a very good level. Anyone watching that wouldn't have seen much between the two sides. We were probably having our best period when they scored their second - those are the margins. Saying that, we still didn't give up and came back at them again."

Kidderminster Harriers 4 Newport County 2

My piece from the Sunday paper

Callum Gittings and Michael Gash both scored a brace to see off their old rivals.

Harriers turned over County twice in their Conference fixtures last term, but the Welsh outfit had the last laugh when they won promotion via the play-offs.

But Newport manager Justin Edinburgh had nothing to smile about after this humiliating result and he fumed:

"We had enough opportunities. We probably had double the number of chances that they had, but we didn't take them and weren't ruthless. I thought that they were very clinical and we weren't. Congratulations to them though. I've been on the wrong end of a few results here and this is another one.

"I'm not going to stand here and criticise the players. We've not been overrun. We've not let ourselves down. But we're absolutely despondent with the result. Everyone wants to win every game we play in. It was a chance for us to get into the third round but we haven't taken it. We don't like losing any game."

Striker Gash opened the scoring in the nineteenth minute when he nimbly wriggled past two defenders and into the box before curling the ball past keeper Lenny Pidgeley with the outside of his right foot.

Midfielder Gittings grabbed his first nine minutes later.

Pidgeley did well to block a low shot through a crowded box from winger Joe Lolley, but Gittings pounced to bury the rebound from twelve yards.

Gittings and Lolley then combined again for Harriers third.

Lolley split the Newport defence with a long pass from his own half to pick out Gittings who raced in on goal before slotting his fifth goal of the season past helpless Pidgeley from the edge of the area.

Gash netted his seventh of the season in the 63rd minute.

Lee Fowler and skipper Kyle Storer played a short free kick to each other 25 yards out before teeing up Gash to drill in a low shot that left Pidgeley with no chance.

Robbie Willmott helped spare County's blushes with two late goals of his own.

Ten minutes from time winger Willmott hit a poorly defensive clearance in off the inside of the post from fourteen yards and three minutes later he nodded in Connor Washington's right wing cross at the far post for his fourth of the season.

Fowler believes Kiddy's Conference grafters have what it takes to compete at a much higher level.

Midfielder Fowler, 30, has played for fifteen clubs, but started out in the Premier League at Coventry and insisted:

"There are players at this club who are good enough to play in the Championship without a shadow of a doubt. It's exciting just playing with them. I've played with some good lads in my time, but can't understand why no-one's been looking at some of them - our skipper Kyle Storer, for example. We've also got the best manager outside of the Championship."

Former Wales U21 international Fowler revealed last week that he has finally faced up to a drink problem that has plagued his career, but he was at his best and pulled the strings as he helped beat one of his former clubs - and not for the first time. He explained:

"I have this amazing record of never losing to a club I've played for and they are always high scoring games. It's never a dull 0-0 or 1-0."

Midfielder Gittings, 28, was turfed out by Wolves as a fifteen year old and joined minnows Alvechurch while working as a plumber before signing full time with Kidderminster three years ago.

Gittings admitted he is targeting promotion to the football league rather than a Cup run and said:

"This is the furthest I've been in the Cup and it's a great feeling - it's amazing to be in the third round. Missing out on promotion last season still hurts though and we want to put that right. Having said that, I'd be just as happy with promotion AND a nice Cup run!"

Man of the match Gash, 27, scored a goal in each half and said:

"To beat a football league team feels fantastic. The way we did it as well, by going 3-0 up at half time, you couldn't ask for anything more."

Kidderminster manager Steve Burr was delighted with delighted with the win, but admitted:

"I thought Newport started off brightly and probably should've scored early on. That's sometimes just that little bit of fortune you need and after that I thought we settled down really well and some of the football we played was as good as we've seen and we've seen a lot of good games here."

"It's obviously useful for the club from a financial point of view, but for me it was all about the performance. I'm really pleased with the way the players went about things. I encourage them to express themselves because we have lads who can play good football and they certainly did that."

County could have been two goals up in the first four minutes.

Striker Danny Crow's overhead kick from the penalty spot landed on the roof of the net and midfielder Connor Washington dragged a low shot on the turn inches wide of the far post after shaking off central defender Chey Dunkley.

And Kidderminster came close to adding the fourth just before the break, but Pidgeley managed to claw away Lolley's curler from the right side of the area.

County came out fighting in the second half and in the first five minutes central defender Josh Gowling had deflected a Washington shot narrowly over and Willmott hit the bar from 22 yards.

Monday morning's clipping

Bristol Rovers 3 AFC Wimbledon 0

My clipping from yesterday's paper

Tom Parkes is relishing the captain's role as Rovers attempt to claw their way up the table.

Central defender Parkes nodded in Rovers second after David Clarkson had opened the scoring with a twenty yard strike. He then revealed:

"I had the armband at the end of last season and loved it so much I asked the boss if I could keep it. I'm really proud to lead the boys out.

"At the start of the season I was struggling a bit and not performing. I was trying too hard to get the boys going and not concentrating on my own game. I'm now trying to lead by example instead and I've set a personal target of six goals so it was good to get off the mark.

"I think the added responsibility has also helped me mature off the field as well. I'm only 21 and knowing you have that added pressure on you helps you grow up fast."

David Clarkson set Rovers on the way as they romped to a much needed win.

Rovers are still just one place above the drop zone, but a first win in four league games left boss John Ward delighted. He said:

"I'm pleased for my players. These guys have put their hearts on their sleeves and this result was reward for all of the hard work they've been putting in. We've been edging towards this for quite a while now."

Midfielder Clarkson grabbed his third of the season in the nineteenth minute.

A poor clearance flew out to him on the edge of the box and he nodded the ball down before drifting across central defender Andy Frampton and firing in a low shot past keeper Ross Worner.

Parkes then opened his account for the season in the 31st minute when he out jumped Don's static defence to nod in full back Lee Brown's corner for a couple of yards out.

Striker Matt Harrold sealed the win from the spot in the 89th minute with his fourth of the season after substitute Ellis Harrison was bundled over in the box by Frampton.

Wimbledon had pushed forward in the second half, but midfielder Sammy Moore was sent off after picking up a second yellow card in the 81st minute.

Worner kept the score down before the break when he blocked a point blank shot from Eliot Richards after Mitch Harding had left the Wimbledon defenders flat-footed to pick out his fellow midfielder.

Ward is delighted with his skipper's contribution and said:

"We work at our set plays and we have been saying to Tom to get in those positions, and he has put it in the back of the net and enjoyed his moment.

"As a captain he is a good leader, and it is nice boost for him to get a goal."

Dons boss Neal Ardley was seething after seeing his team brushed aside and midfielder Sammy Moore sent off. He fumed:

"I've let the players know how angry I am. We got bullied from start to finish, from top to bottom. We were dreadful. Sammy deserved to be sent off, it was petulant, but other players could also have been sent off. He went flying into a tackle when he had already been booked. It was petulant."

"Ultimately, I have to take the rap. We let our standards slip and I must apologise to the fans that made the trip."

... and today's edition