Saturday, January 2, 2010

Live - Saturday football

GOALFLASHES AND MAJOR INCIDENTS (all times GMT)

606: DEBATE
Your thoughts on the action

To get involved use 606 or text us your views & comments on 81111 (UK) or +44 7786200666 (worldwide). (Not all contributions can be used)

By Jonathan Stevenson

1345: The only thing today is missing is BBC Sport's Mr FA Cup himself, Chris Bevan. But what a lot of treats he's left us in his absence. First up, there's a cracking tale of non-league hope courtesy of York City chairman Jason McGill. A Cupset is not top of his agenda, but it might be in the back of Stoke's minds this afternoon (if the game goes ahead).

1342: News just in that there is going to be a briefing between the referee and the police at Stoke in a couple of minutes' time. The pitch is playable, but there is some concern about supporters' safety in the areas outside the ground.

From Olly en route to the Brittania, via text on 81111: "Come on York. Make the heavy snow, rain, traffic, cracked windscreen worth the trip. We can do it!"

From restlessole on Twitter: "I just hope Everton don't slip up against Carlisle. We've had enough bad luck this season!"

1333: I'm being bombarded with enquiries regarding those games I'm giving the treatment today. They are these: Everton v Carlisle, Middlesbrough v Manchester City, Forest v Birmingham, Stoke v York, Sunderland v Barrow and Spurs v Peterborough. However, as the story of the day may unfold away from one of these venues, I retain the right to be flexible. Amen to that.

1330: Stevo's time-consuming Predos:
Aston Villa 1-0 Blackburn
Blackpool 2-1 Ipswich
Bolton 3-1 Lincoln
Everton 3-1 Carlisle
Fulham 2-0 Swindon
Huddersfield 2-2 West Brom
Leicester 2-1 Swansea
Middlesbrough 1-3 Man City
Millwall 2-2 Derby
MK Dons 1-1 Burnley
Nott'm Forest 1-1 Birmingham
Plymouth 1-2 Newcastle
Portsmouth 1-2 Coventry
Preston 2-0 Colchester
Reading 1-3 Liverpool
Scunthorpe 1-2 Barnsley
Sheff Wed 2-2 Crystal Palace
Southampton 3-1 Luton
Stoke 3-1 York
Sunderland 5-1 Barrow
Torquay 2-2 Brighton
Tottenham 5-1 Peterborough
Wigan 0-0 Hull
Lawro's predictions

From redboychris on 606: "I think the shocks will be provided by Huddersfield, Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest and Blackburn."

1322: Magic. In order to make today as special as possible, I've bagged the services of two real-life text comm legends to help us through the afternoon. Drumroll, please, for the great FA Cup Cheesy and the one and only FA Cup Danny. They will be sending epistles on the games I'm not giving both barrels to - but fret not, every tie will get a mention at some stage, and if there's a story brewing anywhere, you'll hear about it first right here.

1320: Now, are you sitting comfortably? There's some business to get through, so listen up and listen good, because I shall only say this once (and then remind you about what I said at 1320 GMT for the rest of the afternoon): I will not be doing goalflashes from every game. It's so important that you know this that I've gone and put it in bold. At 1500 GMT, there are 22 kick-offs in the FA Cup. Even if we wanted to (we don't), the fingers that can type that quickly haven't yet been born. As a result, some games will get the full treatment and all the others will be dealt with in the form of regular updates - as we do with the Football League on a standard Saturday. Are you with me so far?

From Stuart, grumpy Carlisle fan, via text on 81111: "Over 10,000 Carlisle United fans stuck in Lancaster for over two hours, struggling to make the game. Nightmare day!"

From Vic, London, via text on 81111: "I LOVE the third round of the FA Cup! So many matches going on, so many goals to read updates about, Cupsets, replays, high-scoring thrillers - it's got it all! And the magic of the FA Cup means that even a stale 0-0 draw between two lower league teams has an element of excitement! What a day this is going to be!"

1312: There's no early game now, but that just means there's more time to chew the fat, and here's how: Tweet me up right here (with Stephen Fry on sabbatical, the rest of us must stick together), get the texts flying in to 81111 (UK) and +44 7786200666 (worldwide), and get stuck in to some lively chat on 606.

1307: From the three o'clock kick-offs, we have another brace of casualties. Accrington v Gillingham has gone with the Crown Ground snowed under, so those boys will have to find another date, as will Brentford and Doncaster, what with Griffin Park being unplayable and all.

1304: We do have an early faller, kids. In the south-west of the great city of Bristol, the freezing temperatures have rendered Ashton Gate unplayable, so City and Cardiff - who were supposed to kick off at 1230 GMT - will have to try again another time.

1300: Happy New Year punters, and welcome to one of the great weekends in the sporting calendar. Over the course of the next two days, let us tell you the magical story of the third round of the FA Cup. What a way to start a World Cup year.

ะพ 2:00 AM

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