FA Cup still has magic

The magic of the FA Cup lives on!

Although clubs in the Premier League prefer to finish in the top four of the league than to make progress in the FA Cup, the spirit of the world's oldest football competition lives on.

It lives on in Luton Town, who became the first non-leaguers to knock out a Premier League club, beating Norwich City 1-0.

It lives on at MK Dons of League One, who sprinted into a devastating 4-0 lead at Premier League, QPR, and ultimately ran out 4-2 winners.

It lives on at Boundary Park, where Oldham Athletic (League One) humbled Liverpool 3-2 in an amazing game.

It lives on at Brentford (League One), who, playing their rather more illustrious neighbours from five miles up the road, Chelsea, twice took the lead and eventually held the European Champions to a two-all draw and earned a replay at Stamford Bridge.

It lives on at Elland Road where Championship Leeds United knocked out fourth-placed Premier Leaguers Tottenham Hotspur.

And to a lesser degree, the spirit lives on at Aldershot Town (League Two) who ran Championship Middlesbrough close, before losing 2-1 to a late, late goal.

And Barnsley, Brighton and Macclesfield Town will all have their own FA Cup tales to tell this morning.

It was a stirring FA Cup weekend, and we should all look forward to Round 5 with relish.

Where to look for Round Three shocks

As ever, when FA Cup third round day comes around, we all look for shocks. Of course, it's no longer "a day" as the third round is spread over four days this year, starting with Liverpool v Oldham tonight - no shock there, I'm sure.

The majority of the ties (26) take place on Saturday, so where might the shocks come?

Barnsley might knock out Swansea City at Oakwell given Brendan Rodgers's propensity to turn his nose up at anything that's not devoted to survival in the Premier League. Crawley Town could prove a tough trip for Bristol City. Fleetwood Town against Blackpool could be a tasty local encounter, but it's hard to see anything other than a Blackpool win.

For a real giant-killing, Macclesfield Town might fancy their chances against Bolton Wanderers, whose form has not been inspiring in the Premier League this season, but their recent 2-1 over Everton might have given them the boost they need.

Recent cup-fighters and form-team Cardiff City might also think they've got a good chance against West Brom at the Hawthorns, and it may depend on the strength of the side Roy Hodgson puts out.

On Sunday the might of Manchester meets head-on at City, with United probably having the bigger need to win, following back-to-back defeats. Without doubt, it's the tie of the round.

On Monday Leeds United travel to the Emirates, but it's hard to see anything other than an Arsenal win, despite the same tie last season going to a replay after a 1-1 draw at the same ground.

FA Cup delivers its magic

It hasn't always been the case in recent years, but the FA Cup third round really delivered the Cup in its finest tradition over the weekend.

Fired by Leeds United's excellent draw at The Emirates (which was so nearly an away win for the Championship team), lower league teams exploded into action on Saturday afternoon.

League One Brighton beat Championship Portsmouth 3-1.
League One Sheffield Wednesday won 3-0 at League One Bristol City.
League Two Burton Albion beat Championship Middlesbrough 2-1.
Championship Doncaster Rovers drew 2-2 with Premier League Wolves.
League One Leyton Orient won 1-0 at League One Norwich City.
Championship Reading beat Premier League West Brom 1-0.
League One Southampton beat Premier League Blackpool 2-0.
Championship Cardiff City drew 1-1 at Premier League Stoke City.
League Two Torquay United beat League One Carlisle United 1-0.
League One Notts County won 2-1 at Premier League Sunderland.
Championship Leicester City held Premier League Manchester City.

And pride of place must go to League Two Stevenage who beat Premier League Newcastle United 3-1.

Add the interest of Kenny Dalglish returning to Liverpool and his first match being at Old Trafford in the Cup and it truly was a potent mix that didn't fail to deliver.

Let no excuses of bad refereeing decisions of weakened teams detract from this. It was a humdinger of a Cup weekend, and let's have plenty more.

Spirit of the FA Cup lives on

As an erstwhile supporter of Woking (I still live in Woking and watch out for the results, but don't go any more), I was delighted to see them rekindling memories of previous FA Cup glories with a 0-0 draw earned at runaway League One leaders Brighton on Saturday. It should be noted that many non-league clubs have already had to battle through four preliminary rounds before reach the first round proper, so this was Woking's fifth tie. The reply at Kingfield on Tuesday week should be a rousing affair.

And I salute the other non-league victories and draws from the first round:

• FC United of Manchester of the Evo-Stick Premier'slower reaches won 3-2 at League One Rochdale, and will play Brighton or Woking in the second round.
• Cambridge United earned a creditable 0-0 draw at home to League One Huddersfield Town.
• Blue Square Bet South (same as Woking) Dartford drew 1-1 with League Two Port Vale.
• Fleetwood Town (BSB Premier) drew 1-1 with Walsall.
• Dover of the BSB South won 2-0 in a local derby (where no love was lost) at Gillingham.
• Vauxhall of the BSB North drew 0-0 away at Hartlepool United.
• Tamworth of the BSB Premier kocked out Crewe of League Two 2-1.

These were magnificent achievements, and show that the spirit of the FA Cup - at least in the early rounds - is still alive.

The FA Cup still fails to shine

The FA Cup is a chameleon-like beast this season, and is refusing to show its true colours.

It revels in shocks - Leeds United, having knocked out Manchester United in round 3, will now take Tottenham Hotspur back to Elland Road for a reply; Reading knocked out Burnley; Southampton beat Ipswich Town; Notts County will play Wigan Athletic again; and Crystal Palace were close to humbklin Wolves.

Yet, with Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal now gone, the draw for round 5 lacks a certain sparkle.

All the weekend headlines were stolen by four-goal Wayne Rooney in the only Premier League match, despite the heroics of Jermaine Beckford, Gylfi Sigurdsson et al.

Attendance ranged from the sublime: 39,725 at Villa Park, 35,750 and White Hart Lane - to the ridiculous: 10,315 at Portsmouth (for an all-Premier tie), 16,102 at the Hawthorns for a top-of-the-Championship pairing.

The Cup has lost some lustre. It has history and tradition on its side, but whereas, before the days of wall-to-wall live games, the only live game of the domestic season was the FA Cup final, now it has competition from everything from the Johnstone Paint Trophy to the Champions League final.

The FA Cup no longer stands out. Many managers may it quite clear that it's little more than a nuisance in their quest for the Premier League/ Champions League. Top 4/ Promotion (delete as applicable).

Perhaps the award of a Champions League place for the winners would give the FA Cup back some much deserved glitter.

Leeds United humble Manchester United

The third round of the FA Cup was bumbling along in rather boring style until Leeds United knocked out Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.

Once mighty Leeds have been sent crashing down in recent years, but this year head League One by eight points, having only lost once in the first half of the league season, and only once in any other competition (0-1 at home to Liverpool in the Carling Cup).

Their performance in knocking out the English Champions and last season's Champions League runners-up amply demonstrated why Leeds are looking certainties for a return to the Championship next season. This wasn't a fluke; this wasn't a "backs-to-the-wall" win. Leeds took on Manchester United, scored a good goal through top-scorer Jermaine Beckford, and they might have had more, Robert Snodgrass notably hitting the home cross bar in the latter stages.

Of course, Manchester United had chance, but they squandered them or were met by firm resistance from the Leeds defence and goalkeeper Casper Ankergren. If Fergie called his team's performance "shocking", then he might consider his own team selection, although with Rooney and Berbatov up front, and a defence that he would have dreamed of having in their defensive crisis a month ago, it was really only the midfield that was under strength.

As for Sir Alex Ferguson calling the five minutes added on at the end "an insult to the game and the players out there", he really should listen to what he says: that was embarrassing. Five minutes was plenty and fifteen would probably not have been enough anyway.

Simon Grayson has begun to shape a Leeds United team that can take on the best. Although Tottenham Hotspur away might be too tough in the fourth round, the real goal for Leeds is promotion, and for that they look a sure thing.

FA Cup minnows have their day

When we've just seen (or at least heard about) the real David (Haye) beat a real giant (Nikolai Valuev) in the boxing ring, it is difficult to talk about footballing Davids beating Goliaths in the FA Cup first round. The real Goliaths (of the Premier League) have not yet even joined the competition.

Yet there were one or two interesting slayings of the proverbial giants in the first round over the weekend.

Perhaps most notable was the victory of Northwich Victoria at home to Charlton Athletic (1-0) on Sunday, live on TV, and goal scorer Wayne Riley will forever live in the Vics' folklore after scoring the winner after 81 minutes. Charlton Athletic, second in League One, will be - as they say - left to concentrate on the league.

Another eye-catcher was the win of Kettering Town at Hartlepool (1-0), not least becase Kettering then drew Leeds United at home in the second round, and Leeds are definitely the pick of the draw at this stage. They'll be nervous, as they will recall their 1-0 defeat at Histon at the same stage last season.

Bath City (Blue Square South) had an excellent 2-0 win at Grimsby Town, their reward being a home time against fellow non-leaguers, either Forest Green or Mansfield Town who drew 1-1.

Blue Square Premier run-away leaders Oxford United also joined the party with a 1-0 at home to League One Yeovil Town in front of a 6,144 crowd, and they'll be confident of joining the third round draw after Barrow were picked out of the hat for their second round tie.

Another fantastic away win was achieved by Staines Town (half-way down the Blue Square South) at Shrewsbury Town (seventh in League One), and Staines's reward for their 1-0 win is a home tie against Millwall or AFC Wimbledon (playing tonight).

York City - another famous old League name - conjured up past glories with a 3-2 home win over Crewe and will visit fellow Blue Square Premier contenders Cambridge United in the second round.

The spirit of the Cup lives on!

Oldham v Leeds live on the FA website - for free!

I noted from the fixtures in Sunday's paper that the Oldham Athletic v. Leeds United FA Cup first round tie is due to kick-off at 5.15pm on Saturday 7 November.

It also said "Live on the FA website".

As a Leeds United fan based in the south of England, I found that interesting, but following the Ukraine v. England game being shown live on the internet last month, I wondered with sinking heart how much it would cost to watch.

My research today on the FA website found this banner:

But I could find nothing more - no information on how to access it or how to pay etc.

Next port of call was the Leeds United website, where they are selling tickets for the game, but letting fans know that they must buy tickets before the game.

At the bottom of the ticket advice page was this line: "The game will be available to watch live on the internet free of charge at www.thefa.com."

I'm looking forward to it already!