FA Cup 5th & 6th Round Draw Update

Filed under Admin, FA Cup by on February 22, 2011 at 9:37 am {no comments}
The weather has caused a bit of disruption to the FA Cup this year and going into March only 2 of the quarter final ties are settled. The missing fixtures are being played on the 1st & 2nd March all being well.
 
The updated draw:
 

FA Cup 5th Round Tuesday, 1 March 2011

Everton v Reading

FA Cup 5th Round Wednesday, 2 March 2011

Arsenal v Leyton Orient (Replay)
Man City v Aston Villa

FA Cup 6th Round Saturday, 12 March 2011 all 3.00pm kick off

Birmingham v Bolton
Man City or Aston Villa v Everton or Reading
Man Utd v Leyton Orient or Arsenal
Stoke v West Ham

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Birmingham Fight Back For Place In League Cup Final

Filed under Admin, League Cup by on January 27, 2011 at 10:06 am {no comments}

This tie looked all over at half time after West Ham had dominated play and taken a 3-1 aggregate lead thanks to a lovely strike by Carlton Cole, however as has been seen all to frequently by West Ham fans this season, the game is never won until the end, and so it was again here.

The second half was a complete transformation with Birmingham by far the better team and it was no surprise when West Ham old boy Lee Bowyer pulled a goal back after 59 minutes. West ham looked increasingly edgy there after and when defender Roger Johnson leveled the aggregate score the writing was on the wall for the Hammers.

In injury time Craig Gardner who had rattled the woodwork a couple of times earlier made it time lucky when firing home the winner to set up a Final clash with Arsenal. This is Birmingham’s first major final in a long time and on their second half form they will give Arsenal a good game.

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Birmingham V West Ham League Cup Semi Final

Filed under Admin, League Cup by on January 26, 2011 at 10:20 am {one comment}

West Ham take a slender 2-1 lead into tonight’s League Cup semi final second leg tie at Birmingham, as manager Avram Grant seeks to emulate his achievements of last season when he took eventually relegated Portsmouth to Wembley in the FA Cup Final.

West Ham are having a poor league season but have been terrific in the Cup winning their last 6 ties and despite being without Frederic Piquionne who was suspended due to his controversial dismissal for celebrating with fans at the weekend and Victor Obinna also suspended they will be in good heart for this game.

Birmingham are not having a great season either and are coming off the back of a 5-0 drubbing at Manchester United at the weekend. They will be without on loan midfielder David Bentley as he is cup tied but Cameron Jerome should be fit again after his hamstring injury.

This could be a close game however we expect the Hammers to hold out and make it an all London Final.

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Villa Fall to Birmingham Sucker Punch

Filed under League Cup by on December 2, 2010 at 10:41 am {no comments}
Badge of Birmingham City
Image via Wikipedia

Looking at the stats you would be excused for thinking that the scoreline was a typo – but its true Birmingham City are into the League Cup Semi Finals at the expense of last years runners up and bitter local rivals Aston Villa.

In a fiercely contested game Birmingham struck first with their first real chance when a clumsy challenge on Lee Bowyer led to a penalty, which Sebastian Larsson duly dispatched. Villa soon equalised and looked clearly the better team for long periods creating plenty of chances, however they did lack that cutting edge and ended up paying the price when Nikola Zigic bundled a hopeful cross in with less than 5 minutes left to make the score 2-1. Villa did plenty of huffing and puffing in the frantic final minutes but it was to no avail and now Birmingham are closing in on their second ever major trophy having only ever won the League Cup, that back in 1963 ironically against Villa.

They will now face West Ham in the 2 legged semi final after the Hammers dispatched holders Manchester United (well their reserve team anyway) 4-0 earlier in the week.

The game was slightly marred when ecstatic Birmingham fans invaded the pitch however the police were soon in control of the situation and no injuries were reported.

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