FA Cup 1st round review - The greatest cup competition is back

THE greatest cup competition in the world returned this weekend and there were some incredible games, spectacular goals and fairytale stories that marked the first round proper of the 2010-11 FA Cup.  Clubs from the npower Leagues 1 and 2 entered along with non-league sides, who have been qualifying for this stage, some since the middle of August.

FAIRYTALE: FC United of Manchester stun Rochdale

The upset of the weekend was caused by FC United of Manchester, in the first tie of the weekend.  The club, formed by angry ex-Manchester United fans over the Glazier takeover in 2004 and therefore, has only been in existence for five years, beat League One side Rochdale 3-2 at Spotland on Friday night.  They are now only one round away from a dream tie with Manchester United in the third round.  On Saturday, Dover Athletic caused the upset of the day, as they beat Gillingham at the Priestfield in a local Kent derby.  Adam Birchall scored the goal of the day, and Luke L’Anson added a second to overcome the Gills 2-0.  It was a painful day for Andy Hessenthaler, who quit Dover in the summer and took his coaching staff over to Gillingham.  So, it was sweet revenge for his former side.

STUNNED: Dario Gradi could only look on at Crewe's shock loss

Crewe Alexandra was another league side to experience embarrassment at the weekend, as they were beaten at Tamworth 2-1.  Dario Gradi has plenty of experience, having managed Crewe for over 20 years.  However, he could only watch Alex Rodman and Danny Thomas put his League Two side to the sword.  Ashley Westwood pinched a late consolation, but it was too little, too late.  Darlington, managed by former Peterborough and Kettering manager Mark Cooper beat Bristol Rovers 2-1 in the other main upset of the weekend. 

HARD GRAFT: Sheffield Wednesday were made to work hard

Sheffield Wednesday struggled to overcome a brave Southport side in Sunday’s live terrestrial match.  The 1993 finalists were pegged back twice at Haig Avenue, before two goals from Clinton Morrison in three second half minutes helped Wednesday to an eventual 5-2 success.  2003 finalists Southampton also survived a scare, edging past Shrewsbury Town 2-0 at St. Mary’s.  The result was cruel on Shrewsbury, who conceded both goals in stoppage time to the Saints.  The current pacesetters of League One, Brighton were held to a goalless draw by non-league Woking.  Gus Poyet’s men are eight points clear in League One, but he rested several key players and it nearly backfired.  Port Vale was another side who narrowly escaped a humiliating loss, needing a late strike from John McCombe to scramble a 1-1 draw at Dartford.  It wasn’t all fairytales, as the lowest ranked side left in the competition, Hythe Town went down 5-1 at Hereford United and Tipton Town got dismantled 6-0 at Carlisle United.  The game of the day was at Dean Court, where Josh McQuoid scored a hat-trick in Bournemouth’s sensational 5-3 win over Tranmere Rovers.

The FA Cup is back and the long road to Wembley in May 2011 has only just begun.

Gordon Gaff Might Well Have Blown It For Brown

Apart from close neighbours, no-one would have heard about Gillian Duffy until yesterday, when an exchange with views saw Labour’s General Election campaign blow up in spectacular fashion.  Who would have thought that going off to the shop to buy a loaf of bread would cause such a political storm.

Gordon Brown was campaigning in Rochdale yesterday, desperate to turn around Labour’s fortunes in the polls, which have taken a significant hit from a campaign that has lacked inspiration throughout.  He and Duffy ended up in conversation on the street for around five minutes, through the advice of Brown’s PA, who discovered that Duffy was a long-standing supporter of the Labour party.  It seemed fairly pleasant, with Gordon defending the party’s policies and Duffy, pointing out their failings, including the hotly-debated subject of Eastern European immigrants.  They parted on good terms, but as Gordon Brown disappeared into the back of his car, he had forgot to turn off a microphone, contributed by Sky News for the campaign trail.  The next discussion was a blunder of the first magnitude.

Brown: “That was a disaster!” “Well, they should never have put me with that woman, whose idea was that?”

PA: “I don’t know, I didn’t see.”

Brown: “It was Sue I think, it’s just ridiculous.”

PA: “What did she say?

Brown: “EVERYTHING, SHE’S JUST SOME SORT OF BIGOTED WOMAN, THAT SAID SHE USED TO BE LABOUR.  I MEAN IT’S JUST RIDICULOUS”

He isn’t the first to have been caught out by the microphone.  In 1993, after a TV interview with ITN, John Major called his Cabinet colleagues “b######s”, promising to “crucify them,” whilst the likes of Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Prince Charles have also been embarrassed by the power of the clip-on mic.  With tonight’s leadership debate on the BBC focused on the economy, this was the worst possible time for Brown to produce such a horrendous moment of judgement.  His next appointment, on the Jeremy Vine Show for BBC Radio 2 showed his complete guilt.

Rather than continue fully with the trail in Manchester, Brown returned to the scene of his crime, to apologise to Gillian Duffy for his ‘slip of the tongue.’  He came out infront of the cameras, beaming with smiles, saying all was forgiven and forgotten.  However, the latest polls may pull out a different scenario.  The world’s media were obsessed yesterday with another twist that has turned this General Election campaign on its head.  With seven days to go, Gordon Brown has dug himself into a major hole and it might be too late to dig him out of it.  Yesterday, these private recriminations expose the Prime Minister to public humiliation.  He has a massive fight on his hands now, to restore the reputation of himself and his beleaguered party.  A resounding victory in tonight’s debate is the only ways forward.