March to the Arch: Clarets defeat the Rocks and MttA Update.

We have reached the 1st Round proper of the F.A.Cup.  After all the fantastic football played, Chelmsford City carry the hopes of Sports Pulse into the next Round.  A match up against local rivals Colchester United.

East Thurrock certainly made the Clarets work for their place. We had followed East Thurrock from the 1st Qualifying Round.  On Saturday they managed to keep their cup dreams alive with a last minute equaliser. The Rocks brought the clarets home and what a game. The score was 2-2 after 90 minutes and 4-4 after extra time. The dreaded penalties, Chelmsford won 5-3 and make it through to the 1st Round, East Thurrock remain on top of the merit table with a fantastic 25 points.

So how are we going in March to the Arch 4.

We started, as always, at Barkingside in the Extra Preliminary round. Barkingside faced Great Yarmouth Town from Eastern Counties Division One, a group below the'side in Sports Pulse classifications. After a 1-1 draw the Great Yarmouth brought Barkingside home(ish), and comfortably beat them 3-0 and also earned a MttA bonus point.

The Preliminary Round saw Great Yarmouth entertain Witham Town, from Ryman League Division One North. More bonus points were available to the Bloaters if they secured victory. Not to be, as Witham Town hammered them 8-1.

In the 1st Qualifying Round Witham travelled to East Thurrock United from the Ryman Premier League. Witham were obviously underdogs, but were riding high on the previous rounds result. A well fought match saw East Thurrock win 2-0 and the Rocks travelled to Kingstonian. 

East Thurrock made hard work of a very promising start but still ran out 3-2 victors in the 2nd Qualifying Round. Then in the 3rd Qualifying round they brushed aside Maidstone United 3 – 0 to set up the derby with Chelmsford, mentioned above.

The Merit Table as from today as follows:

1.  East Thurrock United    25 points

2.  Witham Town   10 Points

3.  Chelmsford City  6 points

4.  Great Yarmouth Town   5 points

5.  Barkingside  4 points

6.  Maidstone United  2 Points

7.  Kingstonian  1 point

Below is a reminder of the Merit Table points rules and classifications.

March to the Arch (MttA 4) Points & Classifications.

Merit Points are awarded after each round. The MttA winner will be the team who have accumulated the most points over the competition. There are 15 Rounds between the Extra Preliminary Round and the Final.

If teams are level on points at the end of the tournament the winner will be:
1) The team with the most appearances in the tracker.
2) The head to head result between the teams if applicable.
3) Goal Difference over the competition
4) Goals scored
5) If still level after the above, position will be shared.

Merit Points are awarded as follows

8 points Away win
7 points Home win
6 points Away win after replay
5 points Home win after replay
4 points Away defeat after replay
3 points Home defeat after replay
2 points Away defeat
1 point Home defeat

Semi Final
8 points for a win
3 points for defeat
1 point deducted each team, if tie goes to extra time.
2 points deducted each team, if tie goes to penalties.

Final
10 points for win
5 points for defeat
1 point deducted each team, if tie goes to extra time.
2 points deducted each team, if tie goes to penalties.

Bonus Points

Divisions will be split into 11 groups. 1 point will be awarded to teams that beat a club above their group (1 point per group above the lower team). For example if Harpenden Town, from the South Midlands League, beat Premier League Manchester United, they will receive 9 bonus points.

The groups are split as follows

Group 1: Premier League
Group 2: Championship
Group 3: League 1
Group 4: League 2
Group 5: Blue Square Premier
Group 6: Blue Square North and South
Group 7: Regional Premier Leagues (e.g Ryman Premier etc)
Group 8: Regional 1st Divisions (e.g Ryman 1st Divisions North and South etc)
Group 9: County Leagues (Essex Senior League etc)
Group 10: County League feeder divisions (e.g South Midland League 1st Division etc)
Group 11: General leagues.