Welcome to March to the Arch 5, starts Saturday.

Well it's that time of the year again. The start of the F.A.Cup, I know and only August! Those of you who have been with us as Sports Pulse and beyond will know that March to the Arch, is our F.A.Cup tracker. A quick explanation and point system will follow. First, however, it is congratulations to Chelmsford City who won March to the Arch 4. A total of 29 points won, over 5 appearences in the tracker, the highlight being a 3-1 win at local rivals Colchester United. The Urchins join Accrington Stanley, Brighton & Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur as MTTA Champions. The past 4 seasons we have started at Barkingside, they now start the competition in the next round. So a new venue to begin the March. We start at the London Maccabi Lions who start at home against Stotfold in the Extra Preliminary Rpound. Both teams ply their trade in the Spartan South Midlands Premier League. So here is a quick update on rules and good luck to both teams on Saturday. A mach report will appear here on Monday. MTTA is a 'tracker' competition. We select a team to start us off, this season is London Maccabi Lions. We then follow the progress of the competition via the resulting fixtures. The first game is London Maccabi Lions vs Sotfold, we will follow the winner into the next round. This process will continue until the final. Teams will be awarded Merit points after each tie as listed below. Clear as mud, it will all become clear. Point System. Merit Points are awarded after each round. The 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.