Preston North End v Chelsea, Fourth Round Saturday 23rd January 2010

For the fourth round I had a couple of options for my game, the main criteria being able to get myself up to Blackpool as quick as possible afterwards for a friend's birthday celebrations. Preston v Chelsea was ideal for both the location and also the fact it was a 12.45pm kick-off for TV coverage. I wasn't holding out a tremendous amount of hope in terms of getting a ticket when they went on open sale on Monday but after about 80 attempts I got through and my ticket was secured.

Disembarking the train at Preston, the local police were out in force for the Chelsea fans complete with a couple of buses waiting to take them to the ground, even though it was two hours before kick-off. In the meantime I headed off to check out the town-centre which was shrouded in mist. Having fed myself and secured a few bargain books from the Victorian outdoor market it was off to the concrete monster which is Preston bus station to get myself off to Deepdale.


Preston were founder members of the Football League in 1888 and in their first season, they managed to win the league without losing a game and win the FA Cup without conceding a goal, earning themselves the nickname The Invincibles. Like many Lancashire clubs, they suffered after the lifting of the maximum wage in English football and eventually sunk to the 4th division. Recent years have been kinder and the club have been in contention for the play-offs for promotion to the Premier League for the last few years. After a disappointing start to this season they parted company with their manager and Darren Ferguson, son of Alex, was taking charge of the team for the first time at home this afternoon. Approaching the ground, the mist and floodlights made the ground look very atmospheric. Preston had arrived at this stage having thrashed Colchester 7-0 in the last round in spite of being managerless at the time. Chelsea had progressed comfortably at the expense of Watford.

Having claimed my ticket and made my way inside, I got sight of the new completed Invincibles Stand on the opposite side of the pitch. The old guy next to me had a word of caution - "That seat might be dusty, it's been empty all season".




The ground filled quickly as kick-off approached with the Chelsea fans in good voice, the teams took to the field and we were underway at last.




From the off it was clear that both teams were going to look for a passing rather than a physical game. Chelsea, as expected dominated possession with Preston holding firm and looking dangerous on the occasional break, moving the ball rapidly from defence to attack.




Most of the early chances were limited to long range shots which both keepers handled comfortably and Preston must have been hopeful of getting to half time on level terms when Anelka was picked out in space and managed to nutmeg goalkeeper Lonergan to give Chelsea the lead.


Preston didn't let their heads drop and pressed for an equaliser and created a couple of good chances, the closet being a looping header from Chris Brown, well saved on the stretch by Hilario and the rebound being scooped over by Darren Carter when he looked certain to score.


Any hopes Preston had of getting back into the game were dashed straight away in the second half when Chelsea won a corner and John Terry managed to power a header in which was blocked on the line before Daniel Sturridge pounced in the six yard box.


Preston may have feared that the game could turn into a rout but to their credit they continued to keep their shape and Chelsea seemed happy to dominate possession without really stretching the hosts. At the end of ninety minutes it had been a good afternoon's football and a game in which both sides can take strength and credit from.

Fulham v Swindon Town, Third Round Saturday 2nd January 2010

The third round of the FA Cup is always a big date on the football calendar, when the big guns of the top two divisions come into the competition and fans and pundits alike anticipate some giant-killing. Seeing as I was free of any evening commitments I decided to take the opportunity for a road a road-trip and opted for Brentford v Doncaster as it had been a while since I'd been down to London for the football. My plan of action was to get into Euston for 11am as Griffin Park is noted for having a pub on each of its four corners and a good afternoon of pre-match drinking could be had.

Setting off from Stalybridge just after 8am, the snow was just beginning to fall give the pale light a lovely blue hue and upon arrival at Manchester the snow was well and truly coming down.



Speeding on towards London, the snow was soon left behind and it was looking to be a pleasant sunny afternoon in the capital. Having successfully survived the crush of the tune from Euston to Vauxhall it was back overland to catch the train to Brentford, a short walk for the ground. Midway along the journey I decided to check the postponements list on my mobile and low and behold Brentford v Doncaster had just been called off. Thankfully after my cancelled train problem in the previous round, I had decided to start making sure there was a plan B for such occasions and had already designated Fulham as my fallback. Luck was on my side as Putney was the next stop, just a mile or two on the opposite side of the river from Craven Cottage.


As I was expecting to be in Brentford, I had not really done any advance on research on Craven Cottage but knew it had a reputation for fantastic surroundings in one of the loveliest districts of London and after seeing the parade of coaches bringing in the Swindon fans (I counted at least 20 and they brought 6000 altogether), I found myself in Bishop's Park approaching the ground.



On reaching the ground and seeing the magnificent Grade II list Johnny Haynes stand frontage, my mind was instantly made up that this was where I would be watching the match from. Outside the ground the club had a few stalls selling the usual pre-match fayre and as the nearest alternative was probably a good walk away, I decided to throw myself upon their mercy and was rewarded with a fantastic lamb, mint and rosemary effort which was right up there with the best I've tasted this season. Having finished this, the away team arrived on cue, to be greeted by their travelling army of supporters.




With there still being 90 minutes to kick-off I decided to get a drink in the ground rather than hunt out a pub. In terms of facilities, I don't normally expect much of clubs at this level but on this occasion I was very pleasantly surprised with the look and care that had gone into the area and the Grolsch on tap was pretty decent. Just when I thought things couldn't get any better a chap came round with a tray of complementary pies - Fulham you have made a new friend.


I decided to go and check out my seat for the afternoon and was delighted to see the stand has retained many of its original features including the excellent wooden seating dating back to 1905 (The oldest stand in league football) and no major visibility problems from the stanctions supporting the roof.



By kick-off the ground was fairly full, with the Swindon fans filling the end behind the goal to the left in good voice. It didn't take long for long as after 16 minutes a great pass from Kelly at rightback played in the in-form Bobby Zamora was brilliantly muscled away from his marker to flick the ball over the advancing David Lucas to make it 1-0 to Fulham.


Fulham then went on to dominate possession for the remainder of the half but Swindon held their shape well, restricting the home side to only a handful of chances including a header narrowly over from Zamora. As the teams went in for half-time, Swindon were still in with a shout but had failed to test Schwarzer in the Fulham goal.



As the second-half got underway, it soon became clear that the pace of the game was going to be a leisurely one as Fulham were happy to keep possession and Swindon were unable to make many inroads. The visitors had what I think is their only shot on target with a free-kick straight at Schwarzer. At the other end, Andy Johnson managed to get himself through on goal only to be pulled down by David Lucas. Thankfully the referee, decided not ruin the day with a red card and Lucas redeemed himself by saving Johnson's weak penalty.



The game finished up 1-0 and although not a classic in terms of goalmouth action, both teams had looked to play the match in an enjoyable, passing manner on the ground which made for a very watchable afternoons football, topped off by a pleasant walk along the Thames back to Putney Bridge.