NOTTS COUNTY AND PALACE STILL STANDING

 

 

The FA Cup 4th round. Well, usually United are still alive and kicking at this point. Slight problem, Leeds had other ideas. Plenty of other big names have also fallen by the wayside already in what is starting to turn into a curious competition(and an unusual one for me having to follow it from such an early stage with a neutral perspective). In the meantime, the 5th round draw has already been made but at the start of this week there were still a few loose ends to tie up. How many more Premiership sides would fall by the wayside before the last sixteen was finally inked in? There were certainly still scalps to be had by the lower division sides.

The last time Wigan reached the FA Cup 4th round was in 07/08, only for them to be beaten 2-1 by Chelsea at their former JJB stadium. For the last time they won a match at this stage of the Cup though you have to go back to 1986/87 when they(as a third tier team) beat then top-flight side Norwich at their old Springfield Stadium. For the last time Notts County got this far in the Cup, you have to go back to the 93/94 season when they were in the second tier(then known as the First division) drawing 1-1 with West Ham at Meadow Lane before getting beaten 1-0 after extra time in an Upton Park replay. They went one better in 1991/92(well back then they were in the top flight), beating then-second tier Blackburn 2-1 at Meadow Lane.

Well, nowadays Wigan are in the lower half of the Premiership and County, with the backing of Sven Goran Ericcsson are in the L2 playoff spots. The two sides had already fought out a 2-2 draw at Meadow Lane. That set up a FA Cup 4th round replay match at the DW Stadium. In theory, County had already blown their best chance of going through but before the match things didn't look quite so straightforward for the Latics. They had a load of players either injured or Cup tied. Up against them was a hungry County side who while they had fitness doubts of their own, also had players returning from injury. Could County do it again?

The initial answer looked to be no. While there were a fair number of chances early on in the game, only one of them came County's way. It looked as though the Premiership side would give their guests a reality check...if they could hit the net with Jason Scotland particularly guilty of letting the visitors off the hook.. As the half went on though, things got a bit better for the underdogs, the Latics still had chances but thanks to County's efforts, they approached half time with their backs against the wall. However with the half time whistle gone, still neither side had hit the net. The Premiership side needed a half time boost, otherwise it looked like they would get mugged on their own turf.

Credit where credit's due, Wigan steped it up in the early stages of the second half but County were able to hold off the early siege even though the home side had an empty goal to aim at at one point. Roberto Martinez hope for his guys to go up a further gear by bringing on some fresh legs but after blowing their early second half chances, arguably they didn't deserve to go through. In the 75th minute County showed them how it's done when a Ben Davies corner found the head of Stephen Hunt and then in the 78th minute Gary Caldwell put a Davies cross into his own net. The L2 side were headed to gloryland even if not quite Wembley yet as their divisions only remaining representatives.

Last time around, Crystal Palace made it to the FA Cup 4th round only to get beaten 4-3 by Watford in an all-Championship tie at Vicarage Road. The last time they got any further was in the 02/03 season when they drew 0-0 with Liverpool at Selhurst Park before mugging the Scousers 2-0 in a replay at Anfield. Last time around, Wolves(then in the Championship) were beaten 2-1 at Molineux by then-Premiership Middlesborough. In 07/08 though they went one better, beaten Watford 4-1 at Vicarage Road in what was then an all-Championship tie with the Hornets getting buried in the early stages of the second half after Wolves opened the scoring early on.

This time around, the two sides had already met in a 4th round match at Molineux and drawn 2-2. Nowadays, Wolves are in the Premiership relegation battle while Palace are doing likewise in the Championship. The previous match set up an FA Cup 4th round replay match at Selhurst Park. Palace gaffer Neil Warnock came into the match worried about both injuries and his job security as well as the club having been put nto administration, but still was in no mood to lie down to top-flight visitors. In the meantime, Wolves gaffer Mick McCarthy didn't feel like taking any chances, seeing Warnock's team as a "wounded animal" and expecting his guys to be given a rough ride.

Well the only people the first half was rough on was the spectators. The early stages were very quiet was only two real shots at goal and both of them belonged to Palace, the second one providing a particularly good test to the Wolves goalie but it was nothing he couldn't handle. Palace continued to be the stronger side though with Wolves having only one chance in the entire first half. Having said that, the home side still let them off the hook as it was goalless by half time. McCarthy's fears about his opponents looked to be coming true. With the scoreline still level at half time though, Wolves fans still knew that anything could happen.

Somehow I don't think they had this in mind though. Meet Danny Butterfield, Palace right back turned very deadly assasin. In the 61st minute he slotted the rebound from a Matt Lawrence header. Then in the 65th minute he was set up by Darren Abrose for his second goal. Then Alan Lee flicked the ball on to him in the 68th minute for him to complete his hat-trick. Wolves were dead and buried at that point, Sylvain Ebanks-Blake set up Karl Henry for an injury time consolation goal but that was it. Palace were the team partying on this occasion and that only leaves only nine Premiership sides remaining in the last sixteen of the competition.

So, this is how the FA Cup 5th round looks now. Championship Crystal Palace face Villa at Selhurst Park(Villa to win), Man City face Stoke at the City of Manchester Stadium(Blues to win), Championship Derby face Birmingham at Pride Park(Brum to win). Bolton face Spurs at the Reebok Stadium in what looks to be the tie of the round(Spurs to win). Chelsea face Championship Cardiff at Stamford Bridge(Chelsea to win). Fulham face L2 Notts County at Craven Cottage(Fulham to win). Reading face West Brom in an all-Championship tie at the Madjeski Stadium(West Brom to win) while L1 Southampton face Portsmouth at St Mary's(Portsmouth to win). Chelsea still look like the safe bets to win the Cup.

There was also some Premiership action going on with Hull facing Chelsea at the Kingston Communications Stadium. Amazingly the home side opened the scoring through Steven Mouyokolo only for Didier Drogba to level for Chelsea before half time. Chelsea ran the show in the second half and a turnaround looked inevitable. However, they ran into a stubborn Hull defence and weren't able to get a second goal to make the most of their game in hand. That left United still 2nd place in the top flight though, two points behind leaders Chelsea and eleven points behind Spurs and a detour through the Champions League preliminaries.

North of the border, the CIS Cup semi finals were taking place. First up, Hearts were beaten 1-0 by St Mirren at Fir Park with Hearts getting the only goal of the game early in the second half despite the Saint's having the better game overall. Rangers then beat St Johnstone 2-0 at Hampden Park with the Gers getting both their goals before half time and had a chance to go three up with a second half penalty which they missed. Congratulations to both Gers and Hearts and may the best side win in what looks potentially like a pretty tasty encounter at Hampden Park where the destination of the first major trophy in Scottish football will be decided.

So, the CIS Cup final will be between Rangers and Hearts at Hampden Park. For Rangers this is their third CIS Cup final in a row and a chance to lift the Cup for the first time since '08. For Hearts well it's the first time they've made it to the final of this tournament since '97 and they haven't lifted the cup since 1962/63. As for the present day, well the Gers are top of the SPL while Hearts are hanging around in mid table. Though an upset is plausible, the safe bet says that the Gers will pick up their first trophy of the season here. Winning a competition twice in three years? That's always been the sort of record the Gers have liked.

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