Part 22: Chapter the Seventh: Live from the Racecourse Grounds, it's the FA Cup on ITV.

Chapter the Seventh: Live from the Racecourse Grounds, it's the FA Cup on ITV.
November 29, 2014

2:55pm GMT: Hello everyone, and welcome to the Guardian's second round coverage of the FA Cup, featuring a Conference National face-off between two teams fallen on hard times. We've got Tackleford City against Wrexham scheduled to start in just a few moments, and there's some buzz in the air here in Wales thanks to Manager Scott Brown's passionate comments yesterday to WalesOnline.co.uk about his desire to "show those [Tackleford] gits what they're missing." As you may know, Brown brought Tackleford City to promotion last year and established what many considered the best team in the league before being unceremoniously sacked in late September. Both Tackleford and Wrexham have been on a good run since Brown's change of employment, with Wrexham going undefeated in all competitions since his hiring.

2:57 GMT: Tackleford's lineup: Ian Ellis, Sam Edwards, Colin Standing, Andy Morris, John Allison, Michael Coulson, Simon O'Donnell, Michael Jones, Orson Duchamps, Billy Holsgrove and Callum Williams.

2:59 GMT: Wrexhams's lineup: Charlie Nsangou, Raymond Wright, Alan Tierney, Damian King, Daniel Thoomas, Stuart Simpson, Steven Reynolds, Justin Bailey, Darren Baker, Mike Sumner, and Tom Cannon.

3:01 GMT: Alan White from TEAMtalk.com fancies Tackleford City for this one, but he's not in the majority with Bolyesports having Wrexham as 6-4 favorites to win over Tackleford.

3:03 GMT: One question will be, how does Scott Brown handle the defense against Tackleford City? He ought to know the team as well as anyone, given that he built that team. Of course, considering he got fired, maybe he doesn't.

3:05 GMT: Peep peep and we're off!

2': Wrexham puts a cross into the box that can't find anyone, and Tackleford is able to race upfield on the return but can't find the final pass to unlock the defense.

3': Two corners for Wrexham that go begging. good defense by Tackleford. The game has been very much in Wrexham's favor so far.

5': Tackleford launches their first good attacking move, and forces Wrexham to put it into touch. Reader CymruIsSexy writes in "I don't get why Tackleford let Brown go. Sure he's a Yank and maybe he doesn't know tactics but so what? It's not like there's a tonne of good managers in this world."

7': Michael Coulson gets the ball in a dangerous space but doesn't manage to do anything with it as he's shut down by no less than three Wrexham defenders.

10': Ever since I said it was all Wrexham Tackleford has been bossing the pitch. Nsangou is forced to make a save on a corner.

11': Wrexham gets a free kick in a dangerous area but can't do anything with it. Bailey was closer to putting it into row Z than the net.

12': GOOOOOAL! Baker takes a surging run past Allison, and drops the ball back for Wright who slots it to Simpson who knocks it home. Wrexham 1, Tackleford nil!

14': Eustace Boyce writes from Tackleford "Brown got sacked because he was the type of guy like AVB who promises the moon if you give him a Ferrari and then proceeds to drive it like a yugo. Wrexham may field a good team while they have him but they'll never become real contenders." Nsangou makes a brilliant save to keep Tackleford off the post as I was reading that.

18': Mrs. Marple writes in to second Mr. Boyce and adds: "It's because of all the violence on television these days, what with your Games of Throne and Breaking Poorly. If only young men today read books."

19': Baker very nearly gets another for Wrexham but is just offside. Meanwhile, Colin Standing has gone down and is flopping about like a spavined trout.

22': John Rambo writes in to contradict Mrs. Marple: "Books? You mean like the Iliad, which was just a bunch of Greeks seeing how many greased up gym bunnies they could each slaughter? Books are the cause of the fall of western civilization!" Meanwhile, Wrexham has been caught offsides three times by my count in the last 4 minutes.

24': Michael Coulson has to be kicking himself, he was one on one with the keeper and couldn't put it away. Meanwhile at the other end of the pitch Ellis gets to a long ball just before Cannon.

26': Dr. Eugene Pangloss tuts: "Doesn't Mr. Rambo know that books didn't exist in antiquity? The Iliad was originally an oral tradition! It wasn't for hundreds of years after the first telling that it was written."

29': Tackleford has looked good in the past few minutes, really taking the game to Wrexham. Nothing to show for it yet except multiple corners.

31': Professor Chomsky posits: "Well, that shows the true culprit, language! Have you ever heard of a deaf mass murderer? I don't think so."

33': "Professor Chomsky has never heard of Joseph Mesa? Or Stalin? Or Beethoven? What a horrible argument to make." blusters Llewyn Gyndwr.

36': Meanwhile this game has settled into a rhythm. Tackleford presses forward but can't create a real chance, Wrexham surges on the counter but can't get a shot off, rinse, repeat.

38': Coulson continues to look like the best player on the field, but he can't dribble past the entire Wrexham defense on his own. Tackleford's defense meanwhile strips yet another Wrexham player of the ball in their own half and very quickly rotates the ball to Coulson. Wrexham replies by knocking the ball into touch.

42': Mrs. Marple bleats "I'll grant you Beethoven and Mesa, but whatever makes you think that this dashing young man was a murderer?" And now I'm imagining a meet cute between Mrs. Marple and Josef Stalin. Tackleford are clearly discomfited by that thought, knocking the ball out of play.

44': Oh! Williams just misses equalizing for Tackleford! Into the side netting!

45': We'll have 1 minute of extra time.

45+1': Peep! Wrexham managed a couple of attacking moves, but after the goal it was nearly all Tackleford. Brown will be happy to take a 1-0 lead into the half after that performance.

Halftime thoughts: Both teams have had their moments where they've looked dangerous, it's just that Tackleford has had a lot more of them. Still, close encounters only counts in alien abductions and atomic weapons, so Wrexham has their lead.

45': Peep! We're off again, and we'll see how each manager adjusted at halftime.

46': Callum Williams is caught by the offsides trap and gives possession back to Wrexham. A nice piece of movement by the Red Dragons.

47': And it's another Tackleford opportunity gone begging. Sooner or later they're going to convert and then we'll see fireworks on the Wrexham sideline.

49': Wrexham is showing more gumption to start the half, pushing up higher and playing more aggressively. Has Brown decided that one goal won't be enough?

51': @JANEAWESOME tweets: "Why do you need violence in novels? A good marriage plot is eversomuch more fun! #mbm #FireAndBlood"

53': Coulson makes a ripping run down the right side, but can't do anything with his cross. Tackleford is playing notably harder tackling this half, which befits their name.

56': "Marriage is just a perpetual state of cold war." sniffs @69BertyRussell69, who's probably a lifelong bachelor. Meanwhile, footymachy has taken over the field as Tackleford and Wrexham players swipe each other's legs out from under them. Still no yellow cards despite 8 Tackleford fouls.

58': Through the first fifteen minutes both sides are just gifting the ball to the opposition. It's like watching two people hold the doors open for each other at the entrance to a shop.

60': We have our first substitution, Dax Terry is coming on for Billy Holsgrove.

63': Two corners and a throw in for Tackleford, and they can't make anything of it. Callum Williams gets the closest, banging a header into the side netting.

65': John Rambo replies to Mr. Russell: "Well, you can blame books for that. Just look at the Lysistrata, that was a war by the women against their husbands!"

67': Michael Coulson is going to be frowning his sorrows if he can't score in this match, he keeps finding himself in good positions and can't convert.

70': As expected, an indignant Aristophanes devotee rises to challenge Mr. Rambo's mistaken recollection: "The Lysistrata was all about ending an actual war, you twerp! The ladies of Athens and Sparta took over the treasury and held off the sexytime until peace was made!" yelps Ben Johnson.

72': We're seeing Luke Holtham warm up on the sidelines for Wrexham, he'll be replacing Daniel Thomas at left back.

75': Tackleford has been having no luck, despite largely controlling play this half. They have 14 shots on the day, but only 3 on target.

76': GOOOOOOOAL! Cannon with a shocking miss, all alone in front of the goal! But no worries as he slots home a cross right afterwards! Dos a cero, Wrexham!

77': Tackleford has taken off Callum Williams and Colin Standing to bring on Chris Burns and Bobby Oriogun. They have got it all to do now. Wrexham is replacing Cannon, who came up limping after that missed shot, with Danny Hopkins. Brown looks elated on the sidelines right now, and, yes, I believe he is flipping off the Tackleford fans behind the Wrexham goal. That'll be a fine from the FA.

81': Tackleford presses forward again, but this Wrexham team has been excellent at snuffing out decent chances. Despite having 14 shots to Wrexham's 6, Tackleford has had exactly as many shots on goal as the home side.

83': Brown's teams have been known to cough up leads late in games and Tackleford certainly is aware of this considering how often they did it while he was at the helm. So this game isn't over quite yet, but time is running out as Duchamps laces one beyond the far post for yet another Wrexham goal kick.

85': I've just received an email from Mr. Rambo stating that he and Mrs. Marple have begun exchanging snapchats with each other and plan to elope to Blackpool this weekend. MBMs, bringing you odd love stories since whenever we started them.

86': Hopkins is denied a dagger through Tackleford's heart by the post, but with four minutes plus stoppage time left I expect it would only serve to make revenge feel that much better.

89': Nsangou is in no hurry to take this goal kick, it's truly dire straits for Tackleford City. That ain't workin', Wrexham's how you do it.

90': Two minutes of stoppage time.

90'+1: Bailey passes to Wright. Wright holds it. Holds it. Holds it. Good, British timewasting there.

90'+1: GOOOAL! Hopkins splits the Tackleford defenders and rifles it past the keeper! 3-0 Wrexham!

90'+2: GOOOOAL! Tackleford finally scores on an incisive breakaway by Bobby Oriogun, but it's far too little too late. 3-1 Wrexham.

90'+3: Peep! That does it, Wrexham walks away with a victory over Brown's old team! Final thoughts in a moment.

Final Thoughts: Well, that's everything Coach Brown could have wanted facing his former team for the first time. I'm sure he's in the locker room now congratulating his boys. Meanwhile, this was another typical Tackleford performance, they dominated possession and had more than twice as many shots as Wrexham and failed to come close to a victory. Still, all credit to Wrexham, who looked exceptional today, and to Man of the Match wingback Raymond Wright who earned two assists and seemed like he was everywhere on the pitch defensively.



Match Highlights