FA Cup Third Round Tipsheet: Bromley, Bards, Saints and Owls all to lose out

Bromley’s fun will come to an end

Rotherham United v Bromley
Saturday 6th November, kick-off 15:00

It’s most certainly Miller time at the moment with Rotherham, and my ante-post tip for League One winners is swinging along nicely at 15.014/1 – lying in third and unbeaten since early September. The recent 5-1 win against Sunderland was their best performance of the season by miles to stay in the hunt with the leaders. Black Cats boss Lee Johnson admitted it was “men against boys” as his team were under the cosh for the whole match.

The Millers are direct, like getting crosses in and can be relentless in pressure. They are now the joint-top scorers in the division which is why they are 1.374/11 against Bromley this weekend, but as ever with these bets, trying to get an inkling with what sort of team Paul Warne will field is the question if we are playing so short in terms of price.

Bromley are a team I’ve seen twice this season at home, and I do have a connection with the club as my uncle Bobby Dennington was their left-back for a number of years under George Wakeling. I grew up watching his left-foot (runs in the family) and there’s a rare collectors’ item of him scoring against Enfield in 1996 on Twitter (click here to view). His son Ted (my cousin) was also at their Academy and now works alongside Patrick Vieira at Crystal Palace. Ted, unlike me and his Dad, could tackle.

I was at Hayes Lane for my second visit there, and saw them beat Grimsby 3-1 and also made the trip for the 0-0 against Halifax, learning plenty from these scouting missions and I certainly liked the look of midfielder Harry Forster. Boss Andy Woodman (a former Newcastle coach) has been praised for a sparkling run of results on a small budget with a young team. He’s also been linked with the Hartlepool job this week.

Forward Michael Cheek has a superb record with Bromley scoring 47 goals in 98 games for the club (two from four in the FA Cup) and he’s already hit 10 in 13 this term. His strike partner Tahvon Campbell has nine too. Cheek is 3/1 to Score Anytime on the Sportsbook.

Warne has said of the Ravens: “They are all full-time players and if they win their game in hand, they are top of the conference and we know how strong the conference is after our pre-season game with Grimsby.

“They mix it up, they can go short or got long. They are a little like us and play a similar system. Bromley are having a really good season and I know what it is like when you’re flying high in the league and a playing a higher league opponent, you’re going to be up for it.”

For all that, some of the young players will be coming up against hard experience from the Championship and Rotherham to cover the Asian Handicap of -1.5 at around 2.01/1 is probably the way to go for this one. While backing the hosts to win and Over 2.5 pays 11/10 in the Sportsbook.

Greens overpriced again for Hillsborough trip

Sheffield Wednesday v Plymouth Argyle
Sunday 7th November, kick-off 12:15
Live on ITV and ITV Hub

We’ve been going pretty well with our tracking and following of Plymouth this season, and they netted us another small profit last Saturday with an excellent 2-1 victory against bang in-form Ipswich.

One thing you can be certain of with the Greens is entertainment and goals. Luke Jephcott bagged another one against the Tractor Boys and backers of the Both Teams To Score bet have now collected in eight of their last nine games. Opposing manager Paul Cook said of Plymouth they are well-drilled and coached and know their jobs inside out. Although not for the first time Cook bizarrely changed his voice midway through the interview. here to listen and thanks to dneilmusic14.

Their away form is excellent too – losing just once against Rotherham early in the season and on the base of that, they are a massive price at 3.65.

Sheffield Wednesday spent big in the summer and in terms of sheer wage power have the muscle to be a force. Manager Darren Moore has a lot of speed in the side and they are one of the most mobile in the division, but too often than not, they have frustrated and drawn too many games. Although Tuesday’s 3-0 win against Sunderland was huge with Lee Gregory hitting his sixth of the season.

Moore stuck with a back five once again, which has worked against Rotherham too, although I doubt his wing backs will be afforded the space that Sunderland gave, especially down the left.

The Owls will have their big goal as getting out of the third tier this term, and so will Plymouth, so teams could be altered and players rested. Wednesday have a decent defensive record too with just four let in so I prefer the Under 2.5 here, and I cannot help but feel Plymouth are a crazy price here. Big enough certainly to play on the Double Chance too.

No comedy of errors from the Shrews on Sunday

Stratford Town v Shrewsbury Town
Sunday 7th November, kick-off 15:00
Live on ITV4 and ITV Hub

The ITV cameras sense a shock, the Bards have reached the FA Cup for the first time in their history and just about every headline-writer has the dream “Taming Of The Shrews” headline. I’ve waited 80 years for that. If there is an over 2.5 market for mentions of “taming” and “Shrews” on Sunday evening, I’d price it up 1.011/100 and 200.0199/1.

They are the lowest-ranked team left in the competition and while the visitors aren’t exactly pulling up any (Greenwood) trees, Steve Cotterill cannot afford to lose to a side in the Southern League Premier Division Central . It really will be a dream for the papers with a team made up of electricians and plasterers, and while it certainly has some romance to it which will be played in front of a national audience and their biggest crowd, they are facing full-time professionals. They are just below Biggleswade in the table, who my old midfield partner Peter Sogbodjor played for – a great talent.

Striker Jaanai Gordon was a pro at Peterborough and once signed for West Ham – even listing the best he played with as Dimitri Payet. Enoch Andoh was also at Porto as a youngster and had a spell with Macclesfield, and they do have a fair bit of pace in the team looking at the reports.

While Salop started slowly (like many Shakespeare plays), they’ve gained a couple of big results recently, notably beating heavy-hitters MK Dons, a 4-1 success against Cambridge and a creditable 1-1 at last term’s play-off finalists Lincoln.

However, 1/3 on the Sportsbook is a horrible price, which in the words of the great Bard himself: “False to thy (betting) gods, thy brother, and thy father.” Stratford are 9/1.

Cotterill cannot afford to change too much with his team as he doesn’t have the biggest squad, and with their lowly position, losing to a team down in the pyramid is not something he’d want on his CV, and not to squander a potential home tie and money boost in the next round.

Ryan Bowman recently hit a hat-trick in the big victory against Cambridge and has had a decent record wherever he has played, and I’d look to him as a Betbuilder selection to go alongside the away win, while Dan Udoh should be considered too, he was excellent in that 4-1 win, first-class according to Cotterill. So he’ll need to be brave here and keep his side on the front foot. Or in the words of you know who: “Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.”

I cannot see a grizzly end, like said quote, although I am a believer that Christopher Marlowe wrote all of Shakespeare’s work. Shrewsbury won’t meet their nadir like him on Sunday.

Impressive Rovers will be too hot for St Albans

St Albans City v Forest Green
Sunday 7th November, kick-off 17:15
Live on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer

Forest Green’s impressive season is going from strength to strength, and manager Rob Edwards has a well-organised team, especially defensively that appear to well-coached and drilled. And they are another in the lower leagues that play with a high intensity.

He said of the tie: “Hugely looking forward to it. The FA Cup is something that we’re going to take very seriously. The draw is the draw and we know we’ll be away from home, and we’ll see what happens on Tuesday between those two teams (St Albans and Corinthian Casuals). It’s an exciting game for us.”

St Albans are managed by former Arsenal attacker Ian Allinson, who has been at the club since 2016 and has overseen an arduous cup run thus far; taking in two games against the historic Corinthian Casuals, and two each with replays against both the Met Police and Concord Rangers.

They played Hendon in pre-season, and I used to run up front with Greens legend Uche Egbe (who also partnered Iain Dowie). I was more mobile according to Uche.

The Saints also have a superb website; the best I have seen for a club outside of the top flight. Indeed, one of the St Albans legends is Rob Haworth – and remember playing against him at school. An excellent bloke.

Their position in the National League South is a good one, currently a point behind leaders Dartford and are amongst the National League South’s highest scorers. Dulwich Hamlet are in the same league and they gave a pretty good account of themselves against Carlisle on BBC TV a few seasons back, the difference was the quality in front of goal and finishing.

Forest Green have been excellent on their travels so far, unbeaten and a few big wins and the stingiest defence in League Two (just four conceded). They recently earned an excellent point at Brisbane Road against in-form Leyton Orient and Harry Smith. Indeed, my League Two colleague Ian Lamont highlighted recently how they were flying at the top, and clear in the Winner market too at a price of 3.02/1.

Jamaican forward Jamille Matt and Stevens are a potent pair up front, and remember, Forest Green took Brentford deep into the game during the EFL Cup earlier in the season.

The visitors should be able to cover the handicap here and I am going to use the Betbuilder with the win at 1/3 and Over 3.5 Goals to give us a double of 3.17.