A good second half performance against Vauxhall Motors last weekend saw us progress to the first round proper of the F.A. Cup. Although we created a few decent chances in the first half, we generally looked nervous and short of confidence which resulted in a disjointed performance. Vauxhall took the lead and at half time I’m sure there were a few nervous spectators thinking an upset was on the cards, but the lads showed what they can do after the break. With the injuries we have at the moment, it has given the likes of Matt Barnes-Homer and Mike Mcgrath a chance to put their case forward for a regular spot in the team and they did their chances no harm at all.

Our reward for beating Vauxhall is an away tie at Ware. I’ve got to say, there are few things more exciting than watching the draw for the next round whilst still involved in the competition. The other year the gaffer and I got to the fifth round with Cheltenham and after each victorious game we all sat together as a group of players waiting to see who we would be playing in the next round as the draw was made live. Still remaining in the hat with a Man Utd or Arsenal gets the hopes up as the remaining teams still to be drawn gets smaller and smaller. That is the incentive we must have this season – getting to the third round and in the hat with the “big boys”.

I don’t know if Ware away is a good tie. If we beat them I’ll tell you it was! At the moment we don’t know too much about them as we are concentrating on the Burton Albion game this weekend. We know Stuart Hammonds, the non-league reporter plays for them and they narrowly lost to Stevenage Borough in a pre-season fixture. But come November 10th, we will know as much about them as we will do Burton Albion this weekend. One thing you can be certain of is they will want to get through to the next round of the cup as much as we do and if we fail to prepare properly we will prepare for failure!

Back to this weekend and I believe Burton are the best team in the division. They have a manager who has been at the helm for a number of seasons and he has built a team in the style he used to play. A large proportion of his players have been at the club a while now and know each other’s games. They have a little bit more of a physical presence than they have had in recent seasons but this has not affected the way they play the game. But our second half performance last week has given the players a confidence boost and this is the kind of game where our players have shown their best stuff. Burton are in third position in the league and only ten points in front of us so we need to take points off them.

Come along and cheer us on as always.

Neil