FA Cup third round: Crawley beat Leeds 3-0, Chelsea and Man City win – as it

Thanks all for your company and comments – enjoy the rest of the weekend. Ta-ra.

I started this afternoon by extolling the joy of the FA Cup, but lamenting a draw that made fun unlikely. But the FA Cup being the FA Cup, it found a way anyway; of course it did. There’s absolutely nothing like it, nor will there ever be anything like it. That stuff I said about it giving us the greatest moments, days and times of our lives – just ask Nick Tsaroulla how he’s feeling right now, anyone who plays for or supports Crawley Town, or anyone who loves the game of football. This is why we’re here.

Here’s David Hytner’s report of the game of the round….

Coming up later this afternoon, we’ve got Marine v Spurs, then there’s Newport County v Brighton. Tomorrow, it’s Stockport County v West Ham, after which we’ll have the draw not just for round four but for round five too.

With 109 minutes gone, Cheltenham and Mansfield are still locked at 1-1.

I said it below, but Nick Tsaroulla’s goal, Crawley’s first, is one of the greats.

Fran Kirby has scored four times for Chelsea, who lead Reading 4-0 in the weekend’s only WSL match.

“Agree to disagree with Tristan Ellis,” retorts Simon McMahon. “He’s wrong, though. And as for the ball being mostly played when it is on or close to the ground, he obviously doesn’t watch Scottish football.”

Our match reports are coming in…

“Re: Bernardo Silva’s goal,” says David Wall, “how does that binary classification account for half-volleys? Technically the ball has hit the floor, it just does so as it’s being struck. Does that mean that it’s not a volley at all, and that half-volleys are misleadingly named? Any suggestions about what would be better?”

I guess a volley – so a full volley – is the ball being struck before it bounces , so it makes sense that a half-volley – half a volley – is the ball being struck on the bounce, when half ot it has yet to bounce. So etymologically speaking, I think we’re good.

“The boys enjoyed it, “ says John Yems, the Crawley manager, who spent the…