2021/22 FA CUP THIRD ROUND DRAW - MONDAY 6th DECEMBER 2021

The draw for the third round proper of the 2021-22 Emirates FA Cup will take place on Monday 6th December before the final tie of the second round and should be shown live once again on the ITV4 channel in the Uk. The draw should take place before the Boreham Wood vs St Albans game which is on ITV4 on Monday night. With Premier League and EFL Championship clubs entering the competition at this stage, it's one of the biggest events in the English football calendar. After the Dons exciting 4-3 win over Cheltenham Town on Saturday we are looking for a lucrative tie in round three.

In the UK the BBC / ITV will now share the broadcasts of the FA Cup ties, this arrangement will continue until the 2024-25 season at least. Seema Jaswal hosts the draw and should be joined by two former Arsenal players and England Internationals Faye White MBE and David Seaman MBE in control of the balls out of the 'hat' tonight. 

BBC Sport will show 18 Live matches per season, with highlights of the FA Community Shield. BBC Sport has second and third picks of matches in the Second Round, Fourth Round and the Quarter Finals, as well as first and fourth pick of matches the First, Third and Fifth Rounds, and first pick of the Semi-finals.

ITV Sport will show at least 20 live matches per season, plus live coverage of the FA Community Shield. ITV has first pick and fourth pick of matches in the Second Round, Fourth Round and the Quarter Finals, as well as second and third picks for the First, Third and Fifth Rounds and second pick of the Semi-finals.

My team AFC Wimbledon are ball No 50, Other notable clubs to look for include Arsenal (2), Chelsea (13), Liverpool (23) Manchester United (26) while there are still a few non league sides still in hoping for a good tie to give them a shout of a lucrative tie in the 3rd round. Boreham Wood or St Albans City (58) also Kidderminster Harriers (59) who won on Sunday afternoon, while the likes of Harrogate Town (64) who knocked out FA Cup winners Portsmouth on the weekend also looking ahead to January's 3rd round.

The current holders are Leicester City, who are ball number 22 in the draw.

The Full 3rd round draw will appear here during the evening as the ties are confirmed ... matches for the third round will take place over the weekend of Friday 7th until Monday 10th January 2022, with winning clubs picking up £82,000 from the competition prize fund. 
Third Round Draw
    Boreham Wood or St Albans  vs  AFC Wimbledon

    Yeovil Town  vs  Bournemouth

    Stoke City  vs  Leyton Orient

    Swansea City  vs  Southampton

    Chelsea  vs  Chesterfield

    Liverpool  vs  Shrewsbury Town

    Cardiff City  vs  Preston North End

    Coventry City  vs  Derby County

    Burnley  vs  Huddersfield Town

    West Bromwich Albion  vs  Brighton and Hove Albion

    Kidderminster Harriers  vs  Reading

    Leicester City  vs  Watford

    Mansfield Town  vs  Middlesbrough

    Hartlepool United  vs  Blackpool Town

    Hull City  vs  Everton

    Bristol City  vs  Fulham

    Tottenham Hotspur  vs  Morecambe

    Millwall  vs  Crystal Palace

    Port Vale  vs  Brentford

    Swindon Town  vs  Manchester City

    Wigan Athletic  vs  Blackburn Rovers

    Luton Town  vs  Harrogate Town

    Birmingham City  vs  Plymouth Argyle

    Manchester United  vs  Aston Villa

    Wolverhampton Wanderers  vs  Sheffield United

    Newcastle United  vs  Cambridge United

    Barnsley  vs  Ipswich Town or Barrow

    Peterborough United  vs  Bristol Rovers

    West Ham United  vs  Leeds United

    Queens Park Rangers  vs  Rotherham United

    Charlton Athletic  vs  Norwich City

    Nottingham Forest  vs  Arsenal

Let's see how this plays out later on Monday night. We were second side out and an away trip to non league opposition. If your side is still involved then good luck. All the best.

EMIRATES FA CUP - SECOND ROUND - AFC WIMBLEDON vs CHELTENHAM TOWN [SATURDAY 4th DECEMBER]

This weekend the Dons will host Cheltenham Town in the second round of this seasons FA Cup. A side we should have played a couple weeks ago in the league but that was called off during the International Break. We also seeing some new regulations and rules coming into effect but the game is on, tickets are selling, but probably not as fast as they will should we progress into the Round 3 draw later with the possibility of a decent pay day there for some. At least the Dons stopped the run losses in the league in the last couple of game but will need to play better than they did against their first round opponents. Manager Mark Robinson confirmed that there are no fresh injury concerns. “We are all good, apart from Will, PK, and Cheye," he said. "Everyone is raring to go, so I’ve got a tough selection choice, which is exactly what I want. The lads have trained brilliantly today and I will have to make my mind up (to select the team)." Last week saw the return of Egli Kaja for a second spell at Wimbledon and Robbo added that he is pushing for a place in the squad. The sun is shining but there's a chill in the air, good luck to all in the FA Cup today.

FORM GUIDE

(Last 6 matches in respective leagues, starting with most recent)
AFC Wimbledon - DWLLLW
Cheltenham Town - DWWDDL

LAST TIME OUT [Saturday 27th November]

AFC Wimbledon 2 - 2 Fleetwood Town

Bolton Wanderers 2 - 2 Cheltenham Town

Updates will be published with team news and more as and when it comes through. Wimbledon's recent form is a bit up and down as mentioned and we are currently in 17th place in League One after last weekend's 2-2 draw at home against Fleetwood Town. Our opponents Cheltenham Town are managed by former Northern Ireland International and Burnley player Michael Duff who also spent eight seasons with Cheltenham making 300 appearances and was appointed as manager in September 2018. They are captained by Will Boyle. After getting past Gillingham following a replay in the first round, the Robins will lock horns with League One opposition once again. Both sides will be targeting a place in the third round when all Premier League and Championship sides enter the competition. Our visitors have an ex Dons presence with Chris Hussey in their squad, hopefully he will receive a warm welcome again. 

Line Ups (Confirmed);

AFC WIMBLEDON

Win Odds - 6/4 [William Hill]

Tzanev (Gk),  Osew,  Heneghan,  Csóka,  Guinness-Walker,  🟨Woodyard (c),  Hartigan,  ⚽x2 Assal,  🟨McCormick,  Rudoni,  ⚽x2 Palmer

SUBS - Oualah (Gk),  Lawrence,  Marsh,  Chislett,  Robinson,  Awokoya-Mebude,  Pressley,  Kaja,  Jenkins

CHELTENHAM TOWN

Odds -- 2/1 [William Hill] 

Flinders (Gk),  Horton,  Long,  Pollock,  🟨Hussey,  Sercombe,  Chapman,  Joseph,  Crowley,  ⚽May,  Wright

Subs –  Evans (Gk),  Raglan,  ⚽Williams,  Blair,  Barkers,  🟨Norton,  Armitage

Selected Bets;

• Over 1.5 goals in first half @9/4.
• AFC Wimbledon to score over 1.5 goals @11/8
• Ayoub Assal to score anytime @2/1

⚽H/T Score – 2 - 1  [Assal 36', Palmer 41']  [May 2']

First Half Comment;

Updates will begin to appear on Saturday once the teams are confirmed and kick off is due at 3pm. And it's the Dons who get us underway this afternoon, and are 0-1 down in under two minutes as Alfie May scores for the visitors, well that will change the strategy and could be a long afternoon here at Plough Lane. The home side do begin to get into the game and create some chances and corners with Ben Heneghan heading over from one of these but still behind as we pass the half way point of the opening half. An equaliser for the Dons as Ayoub Assal scores with a right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner on 36 minutes. Then it gets event better as Ollie Palmer scores his customary FA Cup goal to put Wimbledon 2-1 in front on 41 minutes, good game now, and we got our three bets settled in the first half. Come on you Dons.

⚽F/T Score – 4 - 3  [Assal 55', Palmer 65']  [Williams 73', Heneghan (og) 81']

Match Summary;

Wow what a match, goals galore, a comeback from the visitors just when you think we've wrapped it all up at 4-1 up, and goals from Ayoub Assal and Ollie Palmer put us into the draw for the 3rd round which will be made on Monday night. Arsenal or Spurs away please. I really hope we can replicate this goal scoring form in the league games that follow. A low gate for the cup games, not unexpected, and hopefully some nice additional revenue with a cup run.

My Man of the Match – Ayoub Assal [his goals got us back ahead, with O Palmer also getting a brace too].

Match Officials – Our referee for this afternoon's second round FA Cup tie will be Mr Alan Young who is also chief executive of the Bedfordshire FA and was recently involved in a bit of a time keeping blunder resulting in a reprimand. Hasn't taken charge of a Dons fixture since August 2019 (0-0 draw vs Wycombe). He should have support from both Michael Begley and Louis Marks on the touchlines today while our fourth official is Leigh Crowhurst.

Attendance – 4,322. 

Next league one fixture;
  vs Accrington Stanley (Away)
  Tuesday 7th December @7:45pm

KEMPTON PARK HORSE RACING 2021 - MEETING #32 WEDNESDAY 1st DECEMBER

Welcome to Kempton Park racecourse a season of evening meetings following the events on a Wednesday night on the all weather flat track under the lights. We will continue blogging throughout 2021 till the end of the year. Started well this season pleasantly still ahead as we push on through the autumn still in profit and now into December for the final few meetings of 2021. Starting to get things organised for Christmas (wow) and elsewhere we have FA Cup games coming up this weekend, AFC Wimbledon will host their second round tie against Cheltenham Town hoping to progress into round three.

Returning to the horse racing all results here are reported to 1pt at Starting Prices (SP) we will be keeping a rolling record of profit/loss all the way through from January till the Boxing Day 'King George' fixture in December. A successful opening first half of the year during 2021 went a little behind in July but now we are back in front as we ease towards the end of the season we are looking very healthy with profit for the season standing at +34.465 points with further success expected we will continue to keep a record to SP throughout the season.

Throughout the year we will keep up with our occasional lay opportunities of anticipated short priced favourites too. Naturally we will keep these results separately from the handicap figures we had been fairly successful with our selections throughout last year managed to get plenty of favourites beat so we finished on 33/49 (67.34%). We reset the counters for 2021 and will be continuing this throughout the year again. Currently standing at 35/47 (74.44%) after another success at the latest meeting and we shall see how things progress as the end of the calendar year draws nearer. 

This week will be our 32nd Wednesday evening meeting of the year. Tonight's meeting will now begin earlier than expected with an eight race card to enjoy, we will still have five handicaps tonight plus a 2yo nursery contest. Also a valuable stakes contest (Wild Flower Stakes) over a trip just under mile and half which is due off at 17:30. We will begin early evening with our opening race which will commence at 16:00 with the opening two year old fillies stakes contest over six furlongs, then we should end the card around about 19:30 with the final handicap event which is run over a mile.

Here's a link to this Wednesday's race card; RACECARD

Going and Weather -- The going on the polytrack surface is described as 'standard to slow' and the current weather forecast for this Wednesday is for a somewhat cloudy afternoon and early evening with a fair chance of some rain showers in the forecast while the temperature is not likely to get much higher than around 9C tonight.

Here are our handicap selections for tonight;

16:30  Unibet Extra Place Offers Every Day Nursery (2yo)

6f  [Class 5  11 runners]

Our opening handicap event tonight is the 2yo Nursery event where Red Showgirl [2nd @18/1] can confirm her earlier promise when winning at Lingfield and this is a return to Kempton with Hollie Doyle riding a bonus. The opposition doesn't look anything out of the ordinary though Bluebell Way [9th @18/1] has had three reasonable runs at Bath and looks overpriced at 14/1 here.

Winner - (2) Poet @10/3  [Rossa Ryan].

17:00  Try Our New Super Boosts At Unibet Handicap

1m 3f 219y  [Class 5  12 runners]

Hashtagmetoo [10th @11/1] is very consistent in handicap company off this sort of mark and should run another strong race here with Saffie Osborne riding her 5lb claim could prove to be very valuable again. Looking to complete a hat trick is Ruby Red Empress [11th @16/1] has only been raised 2lb for that latest success at Newbury, although that was a race for amateur riders, now has James Doyle riding and looks dangerous in this line up.
Winner - (13) Meadow Sprit @13/2  [Marco Ghiani].

17:30  Unibet Wild Flower Stakes (Listed)

1m 3f 219y  [Class 1  7 runners]

Our featured event tonight is a listed affair where eight have been declared, where our first preference is for Alignak [6th @22/1] with Jamie Osborne's inmate already a winner over trip and higher mark, should have the race run to suit and Saffie can pick them off along the run for home. While this is a step up in grade for Garden Paradise [WON @12/1] it wouldn't come as a huge surprise for me and won rather easily at Wolves last time, worth a crack in this grade the 4yo filly has yet to run a bad race so far.
Winner - (6) Garden Paradise @12/1  [Rossa Ryan].

18:00  Unibet Handicap

1m 7f 218y  [Class 3  6 runners]

The stayers turn now, just a small field of six declared headed by Here And Now [3rd @5/1] a winner at Wolves last Autumn and only seen three times since this season races off a similar mark again today with the drop back into class three company and small field likely to be in his favour. Already a winner at Hamilton and Epsom this season Captain Haddock [4th @6/1] has another try at this longer trip, gets a nice bit of weight from the field and likely to be a good price too.
Winner - (3) Imperium @2/1jf  [James Doyle].

18:30  Unibet Casino Deposit 10 Get 40 Bonus Handicap

1m  [Class 4  12 runners]

Another mile contest with the former Irish trained Got The Moves [12th @10/1] given the nod here for S Williams, this looks easier than some of her races across the Irish Sea, has experience of the all weather there with place results at Dundalk and certainly of interest in the win/place markets tonight. A course and distance winner the 7yo Espresso Freddo [3rd @18/1] is my other selection again the field plenty of race experience and still popped up with a 33/1 second at Newmarket back in October. Was the winner of this race twelve months ago so no surprise to see another big effort tonight.
Winner - (2) Endured @11/4f  [Thore Hammer Hansen].

19:00  Unibet New Instant Roulette Handicap (Div One)
1m  [Class 6  12 runners]

Our final handicap event has been split the first division can go to Desert Land [3rd @11/8f] after a couple of place efforts at Lingfield dropped a little further by the handicapper with 7lb claimer Christian Howarth keeping the ride, has to be in with another shout of a place at least here. English Spirit [xth @10/1] is still a maiden but won't find many more lower class opportunities outside of claiming company than this, that the market already has him in the upper half speaks volumes for the level.

Winner - (5) Lucayan @6/4  [David Probert].

19:30  Unibet New Instant Roulette Handicap (Div Two)
1m  [Class 6  13 runners]

The second division doesn't look any better than the first, although there appears to be a little more experience to be found, our pair against the field would be Mr Mac [9th @40/1] and Chetan [10th @40/1]. Mr Mac is a seven year old almost exclusively found on the all weather surfaces, has had a break since last run at Lingfield in May this year, this is certainly his level on a rare visit away from his favourite Lingfield track. Chetan is a 9yo and another who's had a break since May but does still have races in him and shouldn't be ignored. Mollie Phillips claims a useful 5lb too for this experienced course and distance performer. Both are priced around 50/1 so going for a decent place bet too.

Winner - (7) Fitzrovia @13/2  [Rossa Ryan].

Staked - 14 points.       Returns - 13 points.

Results will appear here later during Wednesday evening. All results are accurate and recorded to SP returns to a 1pt win stake only and updated each meeting. Our winning start to 2021 has continued and we remain in front to the tune of +34.465 points to a level stake at SP coming into this week's 31st meeting. A nice winner, some good price place success too but still a 1pt loss tonight, still leaves us nicely ahead though +33.465 points to SP.

Lays - 36/48 We had a good season last year again with the lays, aiming at favourites and not afraid to take on short odds on shots too. These continue to go quite well given we are into the final few months of the year, and they are generally very short prices, including another successful fav beaten during the last few meetings. The plan will be for at least one or two each meeting and we will keep those results separate from the handicaps. Mixed results tonight, first fav won, but the second got turned over at much shorter odds, so not so bad overall. 

Tonight's Lays;

16:00 - Burning Emotion  [6f 2yo Fillies Novice]. Won @9/4f

17:30 - Siskany  [1m 3f+ Wild Flower Listed Stakes]. Lost @2/5f

We will have another midweek floodlit meeting here on Wednesday 8th December so keep well and hopefully we can have a successful 2021.