4th round preview

I was hoping to feature more 4th round ties than I have but sadly, another busy week has meant I was only able to spend a limited amount of time putting this together.

Whilst the northern half of the draw is dominated by Scouse sides, the
bottom half of the draw remains wide open.

We are guaranteed to have two Scouse teams in the last eight and I believe
there will be three, as Oyster Martyrs should be too strong for Sunderland
RCA Barnes, especially with home advantage.

If Oyster do make it through, it will be Merseyside's best showing in the quarter finals since 2004-05, when Sunday Cup giants Canada Edinburgh Park and St Aloysius E (formerly Eagle) played each other, whilst Seaburn beat Hetton Lyons at Formby. Seaburn had just changed their name that season from Dickie Lewis and are now known as Salisbury Athletic.

1993 runners up Bedfont and 2003 champions Northampton Duke of York will both be hoping to take another stride towards reaching a second final.

Duke of York are making a welcome return to the competition after a layoff of five years and face experienced Sunday Cup campaigners Travellers from the Birmingham Festival league, in an all Midlands affair.

Duke of York were unbeaten for the first half of the season but have recently suffered two cup setbacks, as they lost to league rivals AC Squirrels in the Northamptonshire County FA Sunday Cup and to the wonderfully named Byron Leverkussen in the Goodliff Cup. They will be hoping to avoid an unwanted cup exit hat trick this weekend.

Travellers reached the semi-finals in their first season, back in 2002-03, where they faced…Duke of York!! Travellers were 2-0 up with just 15 minutes remaining, yet needed a last minute equaliser to force a 3-3 draw, after Duke of York had launched a stunning comeback. Travellers eventually lost the game 5-3.

4th round draw - Sunday 23rd January
Oyster Martyrs v Sunderland RCA Barnes
Queens Park v Paddock
Northampton Duke of York v Travellers
Comets SC (Berkhamsted - Herts) v Belstone (Harrow - Herts)
Club Lewsey (Nth Home Count - Beds) v Kingshurst Sporting Club
Bedfont Sunday (West Middlesex) v Wonford United (Exeter)
Britannia United (Aylesbury - Berks & Bucks) v Knighton Arms (Southampton)

Lobster or Salisbury Athletic v Mariners