FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round preview: Five ties to watch

62 teams are in FA Cup action this weekend as they bid to grab a place in the FA Cup 1st Round Proper where they will be joining 48 League One and Two sides such as Sunderland, Ipswich Town, Portsmouth, Salford City and Bolton Wanderers.

Massively needed prize money is at stake here for all involved should they progress.  Here are Prost International’s five ties to watch:

1 – Darlington vs Cambridge City – Saturday 3pm

National League North side Darlington welcome Isthmian North midtable side Cambridge City in this potential banana skin tie. Darlo have only played two games so far since their return to league football and find themselves in 20th place and pointless as a result but they have seen off lower league opponents in Prescot Cables and Tadcaster Albion on their route to the Fourth Qualifying Round stage.

City on the other hand started their road to Wembley in the Preliminary Round with victories over Biggleswade United, Stowmarket Town, Cheshunt and Halesowen Town.

Should Darlington win this tie, they will equal their best run in the competition in their new incarnation. Cambridge City will be one step closer to equalling their record run to Round 2 with a victory that could be on the cards for them here.

2 – South Shields vs FC Halifax Town – Saturday 3pm

South Shields of the Northern Premier League were denied the chance to be promoted as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic earlier this year but they welcome Halifax of the National League here knowing they will beat their current record run in the competition with a victory against their Yorkshire opponents.

Halifax currently lie in the top half of non-league’s top tier. Like Cambridge previously mentioned, Halifax’s record run is to Round 2 so a victory here would get them a little closer to achieving that feat.

Shields edged past both Warrington Town and Southport on penalties in the First Qualifying and Third Qualifying stages whilst beating Ashton United easily by 4-0 in the Second Qualifying stage. If penalties are needed again, could it be third time lucky for the north east side?

3 – Ilkeston Town vs Hartlepool United – Saturday 3pm (Live on BBC Sport)

In one of two games televised live during this round of fixtures, Ilkeston Town of the Northern Premier League South East welcome Hartlepool United of the National League for yet another potential banana skin tie.

For the hosts, this is their first time in this stage of the competition in only their second campaign in the FA Cup so if they were to grab a victory here, they would extend that record run against a Hartlepool side who could face their first FA Cup exit before Round 1 since 1923/24 should they suffer defeat in the north east.

Ilkeston have had to get beyond Shepshed Dynamo, Coventry Sphinx, Hanley Town and Alvechurch to get this far in the competition whilst Hartlepool have found themselves still unbeaten after four league outings so far.

Home advantage could sure come into hand for the hosts here against high flying opposition on Saturday here.

4 – Maidenhead United vs Cray Valley Paper Mills – Saturday 3pm

National League midtable side Maidenhead United welcome Isthmian League South East outfit Cray Valley to York Road in a potential cup upset. Cray saw themselves actually visiting Wembley back in May 2019 as they finished as runners up to Chertsey Town in the FA Vase final with this run to the Fourth Qualifying Round being the best run in only their eighth ever campaign in the competition.

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Cray have ended up getting beyond VCD Athletic, Burgess Hill Town, Harrow Borough and Aveley to get to this stage of the competition whilst they sit in a respectable 12th place after four league games played.

Maidenhead have seen themselves go beyond the Fourth Qualifying Round stage in their last three seasons so expectations will be on them to deliver another run into the First Round proper again. But the real question will be can he Millers pull of a shock here at the home of the National League opponents?

5 – Canvey Island vs Cray Wanderers – Saturday 3pm

Mark Bentley’s Canvey Island from the Isthmian North welcome high flying Cray Wanderers of the Isthmian Premier to Park Lane in a game that could see the Gulls hoping to use this sold-out ticketed affair to their advantage as they seek to return back to the First Round for the first time since 2004.

Canvey were last at this stage of the competition back in 2014 when they held National League South side Havant & Waterlooville to a 0-0 draw before bowing out 3-0 in the replay which denied them a home tie against then-League One side Preston North End.

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Canvey have had to edge themselves past Ware, Dereham Town, Biggleswade and Bedfont Sports in order to get this far in the competition whilst Cray have got beyond Fisher, Moneyfields and Bristol Manor Farm.

With Canvey set to have a strong home support of 325 fans in attendance compared to Crays’ 75, this could be a well done cup upset for the hosts who are in the league below to that of their visitors.

Andy Wilkins will be bringing photos and a match report from this game on Saturday and Prost International will have correspondents at several other FA Cup games

Five other ties to watch in the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round

The First Round Draw:

The draw for the First Round of the FA Cup will take place as part of the live coverage involving Bishops Stortford and St Albans City on Monday night on BT Sport 1 with National League side Chorley already in the draw given they received a bye at the expense of Macclesfield Town folding last month.

With the ties being nationalised, it could mean that a team like Hartlepool could have to travel to Southend United in the next round or even Torquay United travelling to Sunderland across the weekend of November 6th-9th 2020.

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