BENFICA TO NUNEATON

This week I'll be previewing the next round of the FA Cup a little later than usual.

The 'Runcorn2wembley' fundraising campaign for Cancer Research UK takes a trip to the Midlands to watch Nuneaton Town take on current team, Kendal Town.

Between now and then I'll be spending a couple of days in Portugal watching Everton face Benfica in the Europa League.

I'm sure the atmosphere at the Stadium of Light will be a good warm up to the red hot atmosphere at Nuneaton on Saturday as both teams dream of the First Round of the FA Cup and a possible tie against Leeds United or Southampton.

More coverage has come in from the Wharfedale Observer and through the Guiseley AFC programme, helping to boost the recent matchday collections as people attending were aware of what we were there for.

There's also a mention in the replay programme from Kendal Town, and I'll be uploading that in time.

Have a great week and I'll have that review of Saturday's game, early on Saturday.

MINT CAKE ANYONE?

So the first replay of the Runcorn2wembley fundraising campaign for Cancer Research took us to Cumbria and Kendal Town against Guiseley AFC.

The first game of the FA Cup Third Qualifying Round at Nethermoor was a closely fought battle in the first game at Nethermoor, ending with a 1-1 draw; another close game was predicted.

The fans and officials of both sides were brilliant and I can't thank everyone enough for the money donated, especially considering we only collected three days previously.

The total raised was £131.49 taking the total to £1,139.82, with another £100 donated recently yet to be added.

I was joined by Rob, Sarah and Lawrence for the trip and soon found myself answering a request for a live interview on BBC Radio Cumbria.

During the collections Rob was very kindly given a big bag of Kendal Mint Cake, a donation that was very well received. Thank you to whoever that was.

The game was played in a good spirit with some nervous passes and tough tackling. It appeared to be heading for extra time when Carl Osman (brother of Everton's Leon) headed Kendal into the lead after 78 minutes.

With a minute left Guiseley had the chance to take the game into extra time after being awarded a penalty.

But the well placed spot-kick was superbly saved and despite over five minutes of injury time it is Kendal Town that now travel to Nuneaton Town in just over a week.

The date and kick-off for the game has just been confirmed as Saturday 24th October at 3pm.

Both teams are now just one game away from the possibility of facing a League 1 or 2 club including Leeds United, Charlton Athletic and Southampton.

Look forward to seeing everyone at Liberty Way, Nuneaton next weekend, click here for directions.

LIGHTS ON FOR A REPLAY

Tonight the 'Runcorn2wembley' fundraising campaign is off to a new county and new ground for its first replay.

The floodlights will be switched on at Lakeland Radio Stadium as Kendal Town face Guiseley AFC for the right to travel to Nuneaton Town FC in the 2009/10 FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round.

After an entertaining 1-1 draw at Guiseley on Saturday both teams will be confident of progressing to the next stage of the competition.

Will home advantage count? Who can react best to playing under the floodlights? We'll soon find out and I'll be joined by my brother Rob, partner Sarah and friend Lawrence as Runcorn2wembley heads to Cumbria.

I must say a big thank you to everyone associated with Kendal Town and Guiseley AFC for their brilliant support to this campaign.

The fans have also been terrific, not only in donating, but also with spreading the word through various fans forums.

Special mentions must got to Chelsea, Rachel and Phil.

Fingers crossed for a good game and best of luck to both sides.

Kick off is 7.45pm and directions click here. See you there.