Sunday 21 October 2012

THE ROAD TO WEMBLEY 2013 #2

The first round of the 2012-13 FA Cup will see a number of South West clubs on their travels.

Plymouth Argyle will be heading across the Devon border into Dorset to face Conference South side Dorchester Town at the Avenue Stadium, a ground which Pilgrims boss Carl Fletcher briefly called home during the 2001-02 season when his former club, AFC Bournemouth, ground-shared with the Magpies whilst Dean Court was undergoing redevelopment.

Exeter City and Yeovil Town will be heading north to Lancashire to face previous cup winners Bury and Preston North End in their respective first round ties.

The Grecians have met the Shakers, who are currently managed by former Torquay United and Plymouth Argyle goalkeeper Kevin Blackwell, twice in the cup in recent years in the 2007-08 and 2010-11 campaigns and lost on both occasions.

They will be looking to make amends for those two results this time round.

The Glovers will be up against former skipper Paul Huntington when they travel to Deepdale to face the Lillywhites. They will also be looking to make amends for the 3-2 defeat they suffered at the hands of Preston at Deepdale at the end of September.

Meanwhile, Torquay United will be the only South West side who will be at home in round one as they play host to either Harrogate Town or Hyde who meet in a fourth qualifying round replay on Tuesday.

It will be the first time that the Gulls have faced Hyde should the Manchester based side come out on top and if Harrogate were to win, it will be the first time that they have encountered the Gulls since the 2005-06 season.

On that occasion, Torquay came out on top following a penalty shoot-out win in a replay, which provided the Gulls with a springboard to beat Notts County and then memorably drew with Birmingham City in the third round before losing out in a replay at St Andrews.