Hitman Jon in good Stead as County draw sting from Championship’s Bees
JON STEAD brought back memories of his 2014-15 FA Cup heroics by netting the only goal as League Two high-flyers Notts County sent out Championship club Brentford.
The veteran striker, 34, scored five times as Bradford reached the quarter-final stage three seasons ago and he has now bagged a goal in all three rounds this term, unleashing an unstoppable drive after 65 minutes.
Bradford will not be joining their former hitman in the fourth round following a 2-0 defeat at Yeovil.
The Bantams are play-off contenders in League One and 39 places ahead of Yeovil, who sit two positions above relegation in England’s fourth tier. However, it was the Glovers who progressed thanks to two second-half strikes from Marcus Barnes and Jordan Green, with Southampton loanee Barnes bagging a debut goal. Elsewhere, Ousseynou Cisse gave League One strugglers MK Dons a 1-0 victory over QPR at Loftus Road.
The Mali international was inadvertently sent through on goal with half an hour to go when Rs midfielder Josh Scowen nudged the ball away from the right-hand touchline in order to keep it in play.
Cisse converted for his first goal in English football to condemn Ian Holloway to his seventh loss in his last eight FA Cup Third-Round ties. Calvin Andrew’s first-half goal was enough for Rochdale to knock out League One rivals Doncaster.
Dale were without a win in six since their second round success over Slough but Andrew’s 18th-minute header meant the visitors gained revenge on Rovers for a 2-0 league defeat last Friday.
Out-of-form Reading had keeper Anssi Jaakkola to thank as they held onto a goalless draw with League Two Stevenage.
Jaap Stam’s side are now seven games without a win but were lucky to escape with a replay against a team 45 places below them, with Ben Wilmot, Joe Martin and Jack King all brilliantly denied by the Royals stopper.
Meanwhile, Birmingham triumphed against Burton in the battle of two Championship relegation candidates, with Sam Gallagher (left) scoring the only goal in the 57th minute.
JACK WYLIE