Saturday FA Cup clockwatch - as it happened

Afternoon all . Firstly, let me tie my colours to the mast: I love third round day. For all the moaning about weakened teams and the competition's diminishing standing, it remains one of my favourite days in the football calendar. So where are the upsets likely to be? You'd fancy in-form Nottingham Forest to take advantage if Birmingham take the foot off the pedal away from the Premier League, while MK Dons may well fancy their chances against Burnley. It'll be interesting to see how Portsmouth fare against Coventry and Carlisle, who turned over Norwich in round two, might give Everton a scare, but it's tough to see York, Barrow or Lincoln causing huge upsets at Stoke, Sunderland and Bolton. Though, I suppose that's why they'd be huge upsets. My tips, if you fancy backing a team to beat opponents from a higher division, would be Millwall, who face a Derby side in disarray at the Den, and possibly Colchester, who travel to Preston. Hardly hold-the-front-page stuff, but there you go. We've got a while to go until kick-off, and I'll be bringing you the team news as we get it, but in the meantime, whet your FA Cup appetite with Louise Taylor's preview of Barrow's trip to Sunderland , Stuart James' assessment of Reading's woeful 2009 ahead of the visit of Liverpool this evening and Daniel Taylor's big interview with Chris Sutton , whose Lincoln side today face Bolton. The weather is yet again playing havoc with the football programme - we've got all the latest here - but you can reheat your cockles with some classic Cup magic: Sutton v Coventry, Ronnie Radford and plucky Havant and Waterlooville. And, if you haven't already done so and you've got 10 minutes (and let's face it you probably have) why not plan your sporting year with our groovy* interactive calendar. *PLEASE NOTE: Calendar may not be groovy, but just quite good. Bus news dept. According to BBC Radio York, the City team bus is still half an hour from the Britannia Stadium. Decent chance of the kick-off being delayed I'd say. Team news: Everton: Howard, Hibbert, Heitinga, Neill, Baines, Pienaar, Neville, Cahill, Fellaini, Bilyaletdinov, Vaughan. Subs: Nash, Coleman, Duffy, Forshaw, Agard, Baxter, Mustafi. Carlisle: Collin, Keogh, Livesey, Harte, Horwood, Hurst, Clayton, Kavanagh, Taiwo, Robson, Pericard. Subs: Pidgeley, Bridge-Wilkinson, Murphy, Anyinsah, Dobie, Burns, Kane. Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire) A full strength Everton side, then. Vincent Pericard, by the way, the only ex-Juventus player in League One? Sunderland v Barrow Sunderland: Fulop, Bardsley, Cana, Da Silva, McCartney, Malbranque, Meyler, Henderson, Murphy, Campbell, Bent. Subs: Carson, Healy, O'Donovan, Reed, Anderson, Noble, Liddle. Barrow: Deasy, Spender, Bolland, Pearson, Jelleyman, Bond, Rutherford, Hulbert, Goodfellow, Blundell, Walker. Subs: Tomlinson, Jones, Boyd, Logan, Sheridan, Bayliss, Rothery. Referee: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire) A pretty youthful central midfield pairing selected by Steve Bruce. Blackpool v Ipswich Blackpool: Rachubka, Eardley, Baptiste, Evatt, Crainey, Southern, Adam, Vaughan, Taylor-Fletcher, Euell, Ormerod. Subs: Burgess, Halstead, Martin, Bangura, Nardiello, Edwards, Demontagnac. Ipswich: Lee-Barrett, Rosenior, McAuley, Delaney, David Wright, Peters, Colback, Leadbitter, Norris, John, Walters. Subs: Bruce, Garvan, Balkenstein, Edwards, Quinn, McLoughlin, Wickham. Referee: Eddie Ilderton (Tyne & Wear) Stoke v York Presumably the Minstermen have texted in their line up from the M6 ... Stoke: Sorensen, Huth, Cort, Higginbotham, Collins, Lawrence, Delap, Whitehead, Etherington, Beattie, Fuller. Subs: Simonsen, Whelan, Sidibe, Pugh, Sanli, Tonge, Wilkinson. York: Ingham, Parslow, McGurk, Graham, Meredith, Lawless, Barrett, Mackin, Carruthers, Rankine, Brodie. Subs: Mimms, Purkiss, Ferrell, Gash, Pacquette, Sangare, Gall. Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire) York, by the way, are undefeated in 11, winning 10 of them. Banana skin dept. "Just noticed your very relevant picture of said fruit... But I think you will find all mushy fruits are also slippery," notes Anthony O Connell. Which does beg the question, which is the most slippery fruit? I'd imagine an avocado would offer some difficulties if trodden on, but 'potential avocado' doesn't really work so well as a cliche. Southampton v Luton Southampton: Davis, James, Perry, Thomas, Harding, Antonio, Schneiderlin, Hammond, Lallana, Papa Waigo, Lambert. Subs: Bialkowski, Lancashire, Wotton, Holmes, Mills, Gobern, Paterson. Luton: Kevin Pilkington, Asafu-Adjaye, Blackett, George Pilkington, Howells, Newton, Nicholls, Hall, Jarvis, Craddock, Gallen. Subs: Gore, Gnakpa, Nwokeji, Watkins, Patrick, Lacey, White. Referee: Gavin Ward (Surrey) Plymouth v Newcastle Plymouth: Larrieu, Duguid, Arnason, Barker, Sawyer, Judge, Summerfield, Fletcher, Clark, Fallon, Mackie. Subs: Saxton, McNamee, Noone, Barnes, Gow, Folly, Joe Mason. Newcastle: Krul, Simpson, Kadar, Coloccini, Ryan Taylor, Pancrate, Butt, Smith, Guthrie, Ameobi, Ranger. Subs: Harper, Jose Enrique, Lovenkrands, Gutierrez, Carroll, Tozer, Donaldson. Referee: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire) Portsmouth v Coventry Portsmouth: Begovic, Finnan, Kaboul, Wilson, Hreidarsson, Smith, Diop, Brown, Hughes, Boateng, Piquionne. Subs: Ashdown, Mullins, Williamson, Utaka, Vanden Borre, Webber, Basinas. Coventry: Westwood, Wright, Wood, McPake, Cranie, Bell, Clingan, Gunnarsson, McIndoe, Eastwood, Morrison. Subs: Konstantopoulos, Hall, Ward, Best, Hussey, Grandison, Jeffers. Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire) Preston v Colchester Preston: Lonergan, Nolan, Collins, St. Ledger, Davidson, Sedgwick, Chaplow, Carter, Wallace, Parkin, Brown. Subs: Shumulikoski, Chilvers, Henderson, Elliott, Mellor, Barton, Mayor. Colchester: Williams, White, Okuonghae, Reid, Tierney, Ifil, Fox, Wordsworth, Hackney, Gillespie, Odejayi. Subs: Batth, Cousins, Heath, Izzet, Platt, Elito, Thomas. Referee: Colin Webster (Tyne & Wear) Nottm Forest v Birmingham Nottm Forest: Camp, Perch, Morgan, Chambers, Gunter, Anderson, Majewski, McKenna, Cohen, Blackstock, Earnshaw. Subs: Smith, Wilson, McGugan, Adebola, Tyson, McCleary, McGoldrick. Birmingham: Hart, Parnaby, Ridgewell, Roger Johnson, Vignal, Damien Johnson, Ferguson, Carsley, Fahey, Phillips, Jerome. Subs: Doyle, Bowyer, Martin Taylor, Benitez, McFadden, McSheffrey, Queudrue. Referee: Steve Bennett (Kent) Sheff Wed v Crystal Palace Sheff Wed: Grant, Simek, Purse, Beevers, Spurr, Potter, O'Connor, Soares, Tudgay, Jeffers, Clarke. Subs: Jameson, Buxton, McAllister, Esajas, Johnson, Boden, Palmer. Crystal Palace: Speroni, Ertl, Fonte, Davis, Derry, Clyne, Hill, Scannell, Danns, Lee, Ambrose. Subs: Wynter, Andrew, Comley, N'Diaye. Referee: Nigel Miller (Durham) Aston Villa v Blackburn Aston Villa: Guzan, Beye, Cuellar, Collins, Warnock, Ashley Young, Reo-Coker, Delph, Downing, Delfouneso, Heskey. Subs: Friedel, Luke Young, Sidwell, Dunne, Carew, Albrighton, Petrov. Blackburn: Brown, Chimbonda, Givet, Jones, Olsson, Salgado, Dunn, Reid, Diouf, Di Santo, Kalinic. Subs: Robinson, Pedersen, Khizanishvili, Doran, Hoilett, Gunning, Rigters. Referee: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire) Plenty of changes for both sides here. Huddersfield v West Brom Huddersfield: Smithies, Peltier, Peter Clarke, Nathan Clarke, Skarz, Pilkington, Kay, Collins, Roberts, Rhodes, Novak. Subs: Glennon, Butler, Tom Clarke, Drinkwater, Ainsworth, Simpson, Robinson. West Brom: Carson, Jara, Olsson, Martis, Cech, Brunt, Dorrans, Mulumbu, Teixeira, Bednar, Cox. Subs: Kiely, Moore, Koren, Wood, Thomas, Reid, Samuels. Referee: Kevin Wright (Cambridgeshire) Tottenham v Peterborough Tottenham: Gomes, Hutton, Dawson, Bassong, Bale, Kranjcar, Huddlestone, Palacios, Modric, Keane, Defoe. Subs: Alnwick, Pavlyuchenko, Crouch, Naughton, Giovani, Corluka, Rose. Peterborough: Lewis, Griffiths, Bennett, Morgan, Williams, Whelpdale, Frecklington, Coutts, Lee, Boyd, Mackail-Smith. Subs: McKeown, Rowe, Diagouraga, Batt, Wright, Green, McCrae. Referee: Lee Mason (Lancashire) Leicester v Swansea Leicester: Weale, Neilson, Morrison, Hobbs, McGivern, Oakley, King, Wellens, Dyer, Howard, Fryatt. Subs: Logan, Adams, N'Guessan, O'Neill, Kermorgant, Gallagher, Parkes. Swansea: De Vries, Serran, Tate, Monk, Painter, Cotterill, Pratley, Allen, Lopez, Van der Gun, Pintado. Subs: Cornell, Williams, Dobbie, Trundle, Gower, Butler, Richards. Referee: Paul Taylor (Hertfordshire) Milton Keynes Dons v Burnley Milton Keynes Dons: Gueret, Woodards, Howell, Doumbe, Lewington, Baldock, Leven, Gleeson, Puncheon, Easter, Wilbraham. Subs: Stirling, Johnson, Carrington, Gobern, Darren Powell, Morgan, Chadwick. Burnley: Jensen, Eckersley, Duff, Bikey, Kalvenes, Elliott, Alexander, McDonald, Eagles, Blake, Steven Fletcher. Subs: Penny, Gudjonsson, Edgar, Easton, Thompson, Guerrero, Harvey. Referee: Tony Bates (Staffordshire) Torquay v Brighton Torquay: Poke, Mansell, Charnock, Ellis, Smith, Carlisle, Hargreaves, Thompson, Thomson, Rendell, Benyon. Subs: Bevan, Nicholson, Sills, Stevens, Haldin, Beattie, Taylor. Brighton: Kuipers, Hoyte, Virgo, Tunnicliffe, McNulty, Cox, Dicker, Crofts, Forster, Dickinson, Murray. Subs: Brezovan, Whing, Elphick, Navarro, Hart, Craig Davies, Bennett. Referee: Mick Russell (Hertfordshire) Wigan v Hull Wigan: Pollitt, Melchiot, Amaya, Bramble, Figueroa, Sinclair, Koumas, McCarthy, Thomas, Rodallega, Scotland. Subs: Nicholls, Edman, Watson, N'Zogbia, Gomez, Boyce, Bouaouzan. Hull: Myhill, Mendy, Mouyokolo, Zayatte, Kilbane, Garcia, Cairney, Halmosi, Geovanni, Ghilas, Vennegoor of Hesselink. Subs: Duke, Doyle, Dawson, Altidore, Cullen, Boateng, Devitt. Referee: Andre Marriner (W Midlands) York's bus news dept. Kick-off at the Britannia has been delayed to 3.30pm. Word on BBC Radio York is that the team are 20 miles away from the ground on the M6, moving at around 15mph. You do the math etc. Bolton v Lincoln City Bolton: Al Habsi, Steinsson, Cahill, Andrew O'Brien, Robinson, Lee, Muamba, Gardner, Taylor, Kevin Davies, Klasnic. Subs: Bogdan, Knight, Cohen, Mark Davies, Elmander, Samuel, Ricketts. Lincoln City: Burch, Green, Swaibu, Watts, Anderson, Hughton, Kerr, Saunders, Herd, Gilmore, John-Lewis. Subs: Musselwhite, Kovacs, Hone, Fagan, Heath, Shane Clarke, Uwezu. Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland) Fulham v Swindon Fulham: Schwarzer, Kelly, Hughes, Smalling, Konchesky, Riise, Greening, Dikgacoi, Dempsey, Andrew Johnson, Zamora. Subs: Stockdale, Baird, Nevland, Gera, Stoor, Kallio, Elm. Swindon: Lucas, Cuthbert, Greer, Sheehan, Amankwaah, McGovern, Douglas, Ferry, Hutchinson, Paynter, Ward. Subs: Smith, Timlin, Jean-Francois, Peacock, Macklin, Thompson, Henshall. Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire) Fulham another top-flight team Taking It Seriously. Millwall v Derby Millwall: Forde, Smith, Robinson, Craig, Frampton, Hackett, Laird, Abdou, Martin, Grabban, Morison. Subs: Sullivan, Dunne, Schofield, Ward, Grimes, Fuseini, Price. Derby: Bywater, Connolly, Addison, Buxton, Moxey, Hendrie, Green, Pearson, Hulse, Commons, Porter. Subs: Deeney, Teale, Pringle, Johnson, Davies, Mendy, Ball. Referee: James Linnington (Isle of Wight) Scunthorpe v Barnsley Scunthorpe: Lillis, Byrne, Mirfin, Jones, Williams, Thompson, Togwell, Josh Wright, Woolford, Hayes, Forte. Subs: Slocombe, Milne, Sparrow, May, O'Connor, Coleman, Crosby. Barnsley: Steele, Hassell, Foster, Shotton, Dickinson, De Silva, Butterfield, Colace, Hallfredsson, Andy Gray, Bogdanovic. Subs: Preece, Kozluk, Moore, Hume, Campbell-Ryce, Macken, Hammill. Referee: David Foster (Tyne & Wear) Middlesbrough v Man City Middlesbrough: Coyne, Hoyte, Riggott, Wheater, McMahon, O'Neil, Rhys Williams, Arca, Johnson, Bent, Franks. Subs: Steele, Yeates, Emnes, Shawky, Grounds, Bennett, Luke Williams. Man City: Given, Richards, Garrido, Sylvinho, Kompany, Zabaleta, Petrov, Weiss, De Jong, Mwaruwari, Boyata. Subs: Taylor, Barry, Tevez, Vidal, Bellamy, Trippier, Tutte. Referee: Stuart Attwell (Warwickshire) "I will play the strongest team that I can but we have a lot of injuries," Mancini said this week. I'll let you make your own minds up. 2.56pm: Torquay v Brighton has been delayed by 10 minutes, due to crowd congestion. Must be the first time in a while that that's happened down at Plainmoor. 3.00pm: "Wouldn't a run-out for Robinho at a half-full and freezing Riverside in arguably the least interesting (except for the Premiership-obsessed) of today's ties have given Mr Mancini a ready indicator of the player's appetite?" wonders Lou Roper. "Or has Robinho pre-empted this prospect/showed his intelligence by bunking off to celebrate the New Year Rio like Jo did?" 3.02pm: York have just arrived at the Britannia Stadium thanks to a police escort. Shorts on, pads on, a few quick stretches and off you go. 3.04pm: GOAL! The first of the day comes at Bloomfield Road, where Jack Colback has given Ipswich the lead over Blackpool. 3.06pm: Six minutes gone at the Stadium of Light and Phil Bardsley has just flayed wide from a decent position. 3.09pm: Dangerous free-kick to Barrow, Andy Bond spanks a shot at goal and it's well saved by Fulop. 3.12pm: GOAL! David Cotterill, one of the most frustrating talents in the game, puts Swansea ahead at Leicester. 3.13pm: GOALS! Nathan Delfouneso and James Vaughan have put Aston Villa and Everton ahead of Blackburn and Carlisle respectively. 3.14pm: GOAL! Anyone who took my tips and ran for the bookies to back against them will be happy with themselves at the moment - Preston, through Chris Brown, have the lead against Colchester. 3.16pm: GOAL! Bobby Zamora has put Fulham in front against Swindon, his sixth in the last seven. 3.16pm: GOAL! Sunderland have taken the lead against Barrow, Steed Malbranque playing the villain to anyone hoping for an upset. 3.18pm: GOAL! The Upsetometer cranks up a notch as it's Everton 1-1 Carlisle, thanks to Kevan Hurst. 3.21pm: GOAL! Neil Danns scores for Crystal Palace at Hillsborough to put the visitors ahead of Sheffield Wednesday. 3.22pm: Barrow are under the cosh at the Stadium of Light - once it goes 2-0 it's over but at the moment they're still in it. 3.25pm: GOAL! Burnley's potential avocado at stadium:mk is looking a lot less slippery - they're ahead thanks to Graham Alexander's penalty. 3.27pm: GOAL! It's now Preston 2-0 Colchester - that's my tip well and truly out of the window. 3.29pm: More than half an hour behind schedule, the players have finally emerged on to the pitch at the Britannia Stadium. 3.31pm: GOAL! A Premier League side are behind to lower-league opposition, and there's no prizes for guessing that it's hapless Portsmouth. David Bell has scored to put Coventry ahead. 3.34pm: York have survived their first Rory Delap long throw - just. 3.35pm: GOAL! Niko Kranjcar has put Tottenham ahead against Peterborough at White Hart Lane. 3.36pm: Some fantastic partizan commentary from BBC Radio York - "Stoke have failed to create an opening three minutes in, and that's the be all and end all". If you're in the UK, the Beeb have got a full selection of local radio options . Well worth a listen to (while refreshing continually right here, obviously). 3.38pm: GOALS! Aston Villa are 2-0 up against under-strength Blackburn thanks to Carlos Cuellar, Geovanni has put Hull 1-0 up at Wigan, Rickie Lambert's goal means Southampton are ahead against Luton and Steven Fletcher has put Burnley 2-0 up, to give the visitos breathing space at stadium:mk. 3.41pm: Barrow have won themselves another dangerous free-kick, and George McCartney is lucky to stay on the pitch after the horrible two-footed challenge that conceded it. Slammed into the wall by the non-leaguers. 3.42pm: GOAL! Andy King has made it Leicester 1-1 Swansea. 3.43pm: Stunning save from Barrow keeper Deasy to keep the scores close at the Stadium of Light. At the Britannia York have forced a couple of corners, but Stoke survive. "They're just ordinary mortals," reckons BBC Radio York's summariser. 3.45pm: RED CARD! Blackburn are having a rubbish day at Villa Park - they're 2-0 down and noe El Hadji Diouf has got himself sent off. 3.46pm: Campbell is inches away from putting Sunderland 2-0 up, but Barrow survive once more. 3.47pm: GOALS! A Clint Hill og has given Sheffield Wednesday parity at Crystal Palace, and Benjani Mwaruwari has put Manchester City ahead at the Riverside. 3.48pm: GOAL! Down goes the Upsetometer as Portasmouth equalise against Coventry courtesy of Kevin-Prince Boateng. And it's half time at Sunderland, with Barrow trailing by only the solitary goal. 3.50pm: The half-time whistles are a-blowing around the country, with Ashdown looking a distant chance to win the theguardian.com/sport office FA Cup Saturday Pick The Score £10 Sweepstake. Stoke and York are obviously still at it, and will be for a while yet. 3.52pm: "Isn't it nice to see the 'Quintessential English Manager Big Sam Allardyce' (TM) giving the venerable cup such respect?" fumes Lou Roper. "I'm sure the Blackburn supporters who travelled to Villa (presuming any did) will have been thrilled with his team selection. Some small triumphs, if not avocado skins, seem to be shaping up nicely: Allardyce may now 'concentrate on the league' and MK D*ns may return to the cesspool from which they emerged. And what price a replay at Brunton Park?" 3.54pm: GOAL! Hello! Stoke City 0-1 York City! After 22 miniutes Neil Barrett puts the Blue Square Premier club ahead against the top flight side. 3.56pm: GOAL! Ah. Stoke City 1-1 York City. 3.57pm: GOAL! GAH! Stoke City 2-1 York City. Two Rory Delap throws, two goals, both within a minute or so of York going ahead. Daniel Parslow's own goal handed the Potters an equaliser, and Ricardo Fuller has pounced to put them ahead. 4.00pm: That Diouf red card, by the way, was for a "lunging touchline challenge on Habib Beye" according to the Press Association. 4.04pm: York claim for a penalty, but Richard Brodie has been fouled just outside the box. Another dangerous free-kick, nor far from a mirror image of the one they scored from earlier ... 4.05pm: ... but this time it's claimed by Sorensen. 4.07pm: So as it stands all three non-league sides - Luton, Barrow and York - are behind, but all by just a single goal. 4.08pm: GOALS! They're flying in after half time. Charles N'Zogbia has equalised for Wigan against Hull, a Moses Swaibu own goal has given Bolton the lead at home against Lincoln, Jon Parkin has made it Preston 3-0 Colchester, Brett Ormerod has equalised for Blackpool against Ipswich and in better news for anyone paying any attention to my tips, Millwall have gone 1-0 up against Derby. 4.11pm: MORE GOALS! Lee Chung-yong has put Bolton two up, Parkin has made it 4-0 to Preston and, in bad news for anyone paying any attention to my tips, Derby have equalised against Millwall. 4.12pm: GOAL! The Upsetometer nosedives - Campbell's diving header has put Sunderland two goals to the good against Barrow. 4.13pm: It's worth reminding you all of this, from my preamble: My tips, if you fancy backing a team to beat opponents from a higher division, would be Millwall, who face a Derby side in disarray at the Den, and possibly Colchester, who travel to Preston. With 40 minutes still to play it's now Preston North End 5-0 Colchester. 4.15pm: GOALS! Ten-man Blackburn have pulled a goal back at Villa Park through Nikola Kalinic, and Kranjcar has scored his second for Spurs against Peterborough. 4.17pm: Carlos Tevez has been sprung from the bench at the very empty Riverside, while Fraizer Campbell has made it 3-0 as Barrow begin to crumble at the Stadium of Light. 4.23pm: GOAL! Scottish tyro James McCarthy has put Wigan 2-1 up against Hull. 4.24pm: PENALTY! And it's gone it Nottingham Forest. Rob Earnshaw steps up ... 4.25pm: ... and blazes over. Still Nottingham Forest 0-0 Birmingham City. 4.26pm: GOAL! Preston 6-0 Colchester. I'm beginning to doubt my powers of prediction. 4.27pm: GOALS! N'Zogbia has put Wigan 3-1 ahead against Hull, and Calvin Andrew's goal has seen Palace restore their lead over Sheffield Wednesday. 4.28pm: GOAL! Jermain Defoe has his 16th of the season and Spurs' third of the day - Tottenham 3-0 Peterborough. 4.30pm: Andy Johnson has missed a penalty at Fulham, but the home side are still 1-0 up against Swindon. 4.31pm: GOAL! Paul Hayes has handed Scunthorpe the lead against his former club Barnsley. 4.34pm: GOAL! Jon Parkin has completed his hat-trick at Deepdale - it's North End 7-0 Colchester. Is it cowardly to edit a minute-by-minute retrospectively in order to remove embarassing predictions from the record? 4.36pm: GOAL! Roy Keane's Ipswich are back in front against Blackpool thanks to Owen Garvan. 4.38pm: Roberto Mancini, by the way, has opted for an unusual scarf-and-baseball-cap combo at the Riverside. It looks a little like he's been possessed by Tony Pulis. 4.39pm: GOAL! West Brom are finally ahead against Huddersfield thanks to free-scoring Graeme Dorrans. He must be on a few Premier League radars by now. 4.40pm: Tevez curls a free-kick narrowly wide at the Riverside - City are well on top with 10 minutes to play. 4.42pm: "Apologies for the ignorant question, but who precisely is it who decides that the the fourth place team in the EPL should go to the Champions League and not the FA Cup winners? The FA? The Premier League? UEFA? FIFA? To whom should I direct my letter writing campaign?" wonders Alex Moffett. "It's madness that teams should care more about finishing fourth in the league than the possibility of winning the FA Cup. Madness, I tell you." I have to say I'd hate to see the FA Cup winners given a Champions League place - if it were merely a gateway to further riches surely it would only serve to devalue the competition further. What's wrong with winning a tournament just for the unbounded joy of winning a tournament? 4.44pm: GOALS! Another flurry: West Brom are now 2-0 up, Bolton are 3-0 up thanks to Gary Cahill and Tim Cahill has given Everton the lead over battling Carlisle. 4.45pm: "GET IT IN THE MIXER!" is the shout going up around the country as teams seek injury-time lifelines. 4.46pm: Fuller is inches away from giving Stoke a two-goal cushion. 4.47pm: GOAL! Brighton have broken the deadlock at Plainmoor - Andrew Crofts has put the Seagulls 1-0 up against Torquay. There's still a good 15 minutes left there, though, after that brief kick-off delay. 4.48pm: GOALS! Etherington's excellent free-kick makes it Stoke 3-1 York. Looking bleak for the visitors now. And Leicester have taken a late lead against Swansea. 4.49pm: Boro have a dangerous free-kick wide on the left against Manchester City, superbly cleared, but then Wheater should do better as the ball comes back into the box. Gordon Strachan's side are running out of time. 4.51pm: GOALS! Jon Carew's penalty has made it Villa 3-1 Blackburn, Scott Sinclair has scored Wigan's fourth, and Mark Davies has done likewise for Bolton. 4.52pm: Full-time whistles are a-blowing: Millwall have earned a replay against Derby, Fulham are through to the fourth round. It's all here . 4.53pm: GOALS! MK Dons have pulled a goal back against Burnley, and Spurs are now 4-0 up thanks to Robbie Keane's penalty. 4.54pm: Boro have missed a superb chance with the last kick of the game, but the full-time whistle has gone and City are through. A double substitution from Barrow who, with half an hour left, still trail Stoke 3-1. 4.55pm: GOAL! Another late goal that has little import in the grand scheme of things: Leighton Baines has made it 3-1 to Everton against Carlisle. 4.57pm: York have earned another decent shooting chance from a free-kick, Richard Broudie, who seems to have been a handful for the City defenders all afternoon, has won it ... straight into the wall. 5.01pm: Twenty minutes to go at the Britannia. "'What's wrong with winning a tournament just for the unbounded joy of winning a tournament?'" ponders Alex Moffett. "Ah, deep inside I totally agree with you. But the problem is that we don't live in that world, not anymore. For the teams themselves, monetary value has more or less replaced sentimental value, and that attitude creeps into the fan base and the commentariat. That's a cheapening of the value of competition, to be sure, but it's also a recognition of reality. If I were a Portsmouth fan, for instance, while I would be warmed by memories of recent Cup glory, I'd also be thinking that the cash of a Champions League campaign might be pretty useful right now. In many ways, this is less a complaint about the FA Cup than the Champions League. If I have to watch that bloated contest every year (which I suppose I... er... don't, but let it pass.) I'd much rather follow actual champions of something rather than teams who didn't even finish on the podium." 5.06pm: There'll be reports of today's game popping up on the site imminently from, I believe, Villa, Bolton, Everton, Fulham, Middlesbrough, MK Dons, Forest, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton, Stoke (eventually, obviously), Sunderland, Tottenham and Wigan. There's some already there, in fact . 5.13pm: There's been some pretty poor attendances around the country today: 5,335 for the all-Premier League affair between Wigan and Hull being the standout. 5.19pm: York are banging on the door, but Stoke are standing firm. Into the last minute. 5.25pm: All over at the Britannia and Stoke have avoided their potential avocado and eased to a 3-1 victory. That's all folks! As ever, thanks for all those emails. G'night.