After a whirlwind weekend in the FA Trophy, literally in some cases with Storm Darragh putting pay to some of the clashes, there were derbies plenty, some big results and a pathway into the Fourth Round of the Premier Non-League Cup Competition.
The Teessiders booked their place in Round Four by being at their brilliant best to beat National League opposition Oldham, who suffered a second cup exit inside two weeks, this time at the hands of the Northern Premier League side.
In front of a crowd of 1,500 people on Teesside, it was level until the 53rd minute when Adam Nicholson broke the deadlock to the delight of the home fans, with a final nail in the coffin coming in added time, thanks to a goal from Michael Sweet.
Their opponents, a second former Football League side in as many rounds, will be Rochdale, whose fixture on Saturday fell pay to Storm Darragh but overcome National League North side Leamington 2-0 on Tuesday thanks to goals from Tobi Adebayo Rowling and Matthew Dennis.
The Teesside outfit will look to use their strong league form and game plan that saw the scalp of Oldham taken when they travel to Dale.
3rd Place in the National League versus 3rd Place in the National League North face off as Forest Green Rovers host Chorley at The New Lawn.
Both sides had drama-ridden games, with Forest Green prevailing on penalties against National League South side Braintree Town.
The Iron actually took the lead in the first half through Kyrell Lisbie, only to be pegged back just after the hour by FGR’s Adam May, with no further goals, the tie went to penalties, which Forest Green overcame as 5-3 winners to put themselves in the next round. ,
Chorley welcomed Warrington Rylands to the Chorley Group Victoria Park Stadium, where there were five goals on display for the spectators.
Chorley took the lead through Tom Carr but were pegged back just after a quarter of an hour by George Waring’s first of the afternoon.
Chorley went back ahead ten minutes before the break, but Waring’s second brought the visitors level ten minutes after halftime, with parity only lasting four minutes, as Jack Sampson’s goal proved pivotal to send Andy Preece's side through.
An all-National League affair was drawn out of the bag, too, as Altrincham, off the back of a brilliant derby win over Macclesfield, were again drawn at home, this time welcoming fellow National League Side Barnet to Cheshire.
Both sides started their Trophy campaigns in Round Three, and both progressed with relatively comfortable 2-0 wins over their respective opponents, Aveley and the aforementioned Silkmen.
The sides have already thrown up a belter of a game in the National League, too, as Barnet grabbed an added-time winner back in September against their northern visitors, with both fans anticipating a similarly entertaining game this time around.
Just shy of seventy miles separate Gainsborough Trinity of the Northern League Premier Division and York City of the National League, with York, like fellow National League side Barnet, flying high at the top of Step One, both level on 44 points.
While Gainsborough are lingering near the relegation zone in Step Three, they have multiple games in hand over the sides above them. Trinity's only loss in their last 12 games came away at League Two Harrogate Town, who edged a cagey game 1-0. Russ Wilcox's side have already beaten four higher-tier opposition this season and will be looking to make it five.
York took part in one of the fair few derbies in Round Three of the trophy, overcoming Darlington 3-1 to seal their Round Four place, whilst Gainsborough needed a double from their top scorer this season, Declan Howe, to get past Rushall Olympic by the score of 2-1.
Howe is one player that York will need to keep an eye on, having got 19 goals in 24 matches in all competitions this season, nine in his last eight and has scored in all four of Trinity’s FA Trophy games so far this season, becoming a real one to watch as the competition moves on to the Fourth Round stage.
All Fourth Round ties will be played on Saturday, January 4th, 2025.with Fourth Round Winners receiving £5,250 and losers £1,500 in prize money. Written by Finley Chung
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