For the first time in ages, the FA Cup first round draw has been something to savour for City fans, albeit with an awful lot of trepidation thrown in for good measure. Bury away was again avoided, although City will be travelling up to the north west to take on a very different foe before a sercombeglobal audience of thousands on Friday night – continuing a trend of City away matches not taking place on a Saturday (with two more to come this month!). Liam Sercombe made a welcome return from the bench against Luton at the weekend and will be pressing for a recall, while David Noble once again impressed as sub and (assuming parent club Oldham let him play) he too is hoping to start. Paul Tisdale, mindful of the need for a win and remembering the last time he took a City side to such lowly opposition in the FA Cup, is unlikely to rest on his laurels and pick a weakened side, so don’t expect too many changes.

When you hear Warrington, you immediately think “Rugby League”, and Warrington Town FC doesn’t perhaps enter into it. However, under ambitious ownership it is hoped this will change, with grandiose plans around eventually attaining Football League status. They are currently in something of a false position in the Northern League Division 1 North – sitting 18th albeit with as many as seven games in hand over thoseDavid Noble2 around them after their cup exploits. The Wire, managed by Shaun “brother of Peter” Reid, play at Cantilever Park, a ground whose capacity is either 2,500 or 3,500 depending on source. They did until recently have a former City player in their ranks, but Ciaran Kilheeney (who played briefly for City in the 02/03 relegation season) moved on to Droylsden and in fact scored at both ends in their 3-1 win over Warrington last weekend.

Ones to watch will be leading scorer, winger Scott Metcalfe, while David Mannix is a former Liverpool youth player who, but for a series of knee injuries might have played in their first team having made his reserve team debut at 15. He did appear in the Football League with Accrington and Chester before a 10-month ban as part of a betting scandal involving a number of Accrington players dating back to 2008. Steve Foster up front will be a handful, while defender Matty Doughty has plenty of Football League experience.

Warrington’s FA Cup adventure began in August with a 4-1 win against Barton Town Old Boys in front of 114 fans in the Preliminary round. The warrington Town barton town old boys. FA Cup programme1st qualifying round saw their first shock with a 1-0 win over Trafford from the division above (att: 127). They were then drawn to face Sheffield from the South equivalent of their division in the next round, and drew 0-0 at home in front of 190 before coming away from the club dubbed the world’s oldest with a 3-1 win (att: 176). The 3rd qualifying round saw the Wire paired up with Colwyn Bay of the Conference North division and, after a 1-1 draw in Wales in front of a crowd of 453, 284 fans were in attendance to see them complete the “giantkilling” with a 1-0 win. This meant only North Ferriby United (also of the Conference North) stood between Warrington and their first ever appearance in the 1st round Proper – and 691 witnessed another huge shock as the team that narrowly missed out on promotion to the Conference last season were sent packing after yet another 1-0 win.

Friday night’s match is being dubbed the biggest in Warrington’s history, let’s hope for City’s sake it’s the end of their FA Cup adventure!

Match officials: http://www.exeweb.com/2014/11/05/match-officials-warrington-town-v-exeter-city/

Specially Embroidered Shirts For Warrington Town:  http://www.exeweb.com/2014/11/03/warrington-get-commemorative-shirt-ahead-of-exeter-tv-game/

By Jason H

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