Torquay, Aldershot and Cambridge Utd to exit the FA Trophy early

Non-league / Gary Boswell / 13 December 2007 / Leave a Comment

Gary Boswell picks out the best bets from the first round of the FA Trophy

That time of year again.No, No, Not Christmas, what do you take me for?First round of the FA Trophy! and its time to get your portfolios underway. Who's going to grace the New Wembley Stadium this year in the wake of Stevenage's inaugural success? Will they also have to cope with the delights of playing on a pitch marked out with NFL yardages? (Sorry just getting ready for those end of year surveys that ask what is your biggest gripe!).

There was a trend in non-league betting for several years when I first started studying it seriously. That trend centred around the newly formed Conference play-offs becoming a bigger prize for non-league teams at the top of the pyramid than the FA Trophy final. Traditionally the latter had always promised a trip to Wembley for the finalists and that was enough to keep it as the first priority for all.
Now of course the Play-off final guarantees same and a prized place in the Football League on top of that. The FA Trophy was usurped and for a while, there was betting money to be made in supporting outsiders for the Tournament in the knowledge that teams at the top of the tree had their sights set elsewhere.

That trend has slightly reversed in the last two years with Premier sides contesting the final again. I put this down to some extent to the emergence of the New Wembley as the re-instated venue for the final.

It is a fact however that the FA Trophy final has still only ever been contested by one side who were also involved in the Conference Premier play-offs.

In general, the top six teams in the pyramid, who are also always the top six in the betting, can be confidently opposed.

For me, the natural David versus Goliath instinct stays intact in the first round of the FA Trophy although I have to confess it feels a tad peculiar to be shouting for Torquay to get a Bashley bashing just two weeks after shouting myself hoarse supporting the Gulls against Yeovil and Brighton in the FA Cup.

Bashley are obviously a longshot at around [11.0] to eliminate Torquay but with only two defeats all season, the BGB Premier side could be a dark horse and are my third best in the possible shock stakes this weekend.

Second best are Kings Lynn at around [8.5] from the summit of the same league. A trip to the Abbey Stadium is going to be a tall order but Cambridge come in on the back of a dispiriting League defeat in front of the Setanta cameras and might just be ripe for the ' we're best off out of this competition ' conspiracy theory. Especially as they already have the FA Cup tie with Wolves coming up to distract them.

Top of the pile though are Gary Haylock's Hayes & Yeading who look overpriced at around [5.0] to win at Church Road at home to an Aldershot side who will quite simply get The Boz eating his hat if they go on to win the FA Trophy when so much rides on them focussing on their effort to get back into the Football League. Hayes have a couple of tasty strikers in the shape of James Mulley and Liam Collins and come in on the back of a big win against Lewes. That result ended a bad patch and I expect them to be up for the shock here with the advice being a middling Lay on Aldershot at around [1.6].