FA Cup Betting: The DJ did it

FA Cup / Gary Boswell / 23 November 2010 / Leave a Comment

DJ Campbell in his Yeading days before moving up a few divisions and turning out for the likes of Birmingham City, Leicester and now Blackpool

"No longer the ignominy of getting red carded in front of a handful and having everyone hear the frustrated kick on the dressing room door simply because there is no-one there to cushion the eerie sound. Now he regularly struts his stuff in front of the mega thousands in the Premier League."

Most of football's afficionados are aware of DJ Campbell's meteoric rise through the divisions on the back of his 2004 FA Cup performances but who can 'do a DJ' this time round, asks Gary Boswell.

That mark of quality that enables an individual sportsperson to save their premium performance - their A1 game - for the moment that really matters. In Dudley Campbell's case, that was turning on his considerable charms full wattage when the cameras came to televise Yeading against Newcastle Live in the FA Cup in 2004.

I'd seen him play the week before in front of 220 at Billericay and he'd been rubbish. Really low key. The day the cameras came, the duckling transformed into swan and he gave a dazzling display of pace and trickery that made him desirable overnight.

No longer the ignominy of getting red carded in front of a handful and having everyone hear the frustrated kick on the dressing room door simply because there is no-one there to cushion the eerie sound. Now he regularly struts his stuff in front of the mega thousands in the Premier League. Nothing he ever says on the field of play gets heard any more!

The FA Cup does that. A serious shop window for talented non league footballers courtesy of the mainstream live televising of the games. Jamie Mackie rose up before us playing for Exeter a few years back. Look at him now. Regularly banging them in at the top of the Championship for QPR and notching a full international goal for Scotland against the Faroe Islands. Plymouth's Rory Paterson was rejected by Rochdale and looked to have no way into the upper echelons until Karl Marginson snapped him up for FC United. 42 goals in 45 games as the fans' club won the North West Counties and Paterson was obviously too good for that level and has spiralled upwards ever since. His late penalty for Northern Ireland at Windsor Park last week marked the arrival of yet another non league swan on the world's international stage.

He'll be watching his old pals play at Brighton this weekend as they get their chance to follow in his footsteps.

And this weekend brings us three more televised shop windows with Crawley versus Swindon at 7.45pm on ESPN Friday night - AFC Wimbledon versus Stevenage as a 12-50 kick off on ITV Saturday and Droylsden versus Leyton Orient on ESPN 7.45 on Monday. Which swans can swim up this time round?

Will it be Droylsden's Ciaran Kilheeney, who has seriously impressed with 12 goals already this season and is marked as the player who decided to stay down in Blue Square North after winning promotion with Southport last season? The move up had implications for his full-time job! Does that sound like a swan in the making? I'm here to tell you the boy can play. It'll be interesting to see if he does a DJ Campbell on the Orient!

Crawley's Richard Brodie gets a second chance. He already impressed in front of the cameras for York last season with a wonder goal but you get the impression at Crawley that the ugly duckling in the wings is one Matt Tubbs. Sluicing them in for Salisbury last season, he has been quietly getting on with bagging the requisite as part of Crawley's Project Promotion and may well be ready for his emergence into the spotlight against Swindon. AFC Wimbledon boast a winger called Mark Nwokeji who will make you sit up and take note and I also like the hard working Fraser Franks, who will I think attract the scouting eye of those that really know their football.

All three non league clubs have home advantage for their 2nd Round ties and I'd say all three have a backable chance of getting what the televison moguls want this weekend - ie. the perceived Romantic Cup underdog shock.

AFC Wimbledon are around [3.0] to beat Stevenage which is a big price if you are of the ilk that considers League Two and Conference National not that far apart in terms of class. Crawley and Droylsden have bigger tasks against League One opposition but both Swindon and Orient have poor league away form this season (just one win each from eight and nine games) and after watching Woking take League One highflyers Brighton all the way, the play is to lay Swindon at around [2.4] and have twice the stake lay on Orient at around [1.8].

Dave Pace's Bloods have a potent mix of youth and experience at the Butchers Arms this season and can be given a serious chance of an upset. They come in on the back of giving title rivals Boston a 4-0 pasting two weekends ago and won in the FA Trophy last weekend with only half a team. This fixture takes priority and their [5.6] win price will tempt a few!

THE BOZ's RECOMMENDED FA CUP 'DUCKLING IN TO SWAN' BETS:

1pt BACK AFC WIMBLEDON to beat STEVENAGE at around [3.0]
1pt LAY SWINDON against CRAWLEY at around [2.4]
2pt LAY LEYTON ORIENT against DROYLSDEN at around [1.8]