FINAL SCORE - GULLS 1-0 R&D

Free kick to Torquay wide on the left. Danny Stevens swings it in but it goes behind.
Rushden break down to the other end there's a horrible scramble. Benyon breaks and slips the ball to stevens, but Hillard robs him.
And that's it. The final whistle goes and it's a thorough job done, if not a terribly convincing one. The next round is on January 31, and the draw's on Monday.
The Rushden officials are arguing the toss with Mr Melin as he leaves the field, presumably about the goal. We'll find out later on when their boss gives his radio interviews.

The attendance is 1,728, which in the circumstances is pretty good.
And the sponsors have selected Scott Bevan as their man of the match. Nominations in the nice warm box here also include Hargreaves, Wroe and Hodges, who has been quietly excellent yet again.
We are in the 90th minute, and the fourth official has indicated five added minutes, presumably for Dsane's injury.
Tyrone Thompson replaces Matt Green in our third and last change.

Bevan saves from Rankine in the 82nd minute, and Tomlin shoots high and wide. How many chances is this man going to have?
The Gulls have a corner on the right in the 84th minute. Nicko takes it and Roberts punches clear.
Roberts saves well from Benyon, although the fans think we should have had a free kick for a foul on Benyon seconds before.
Rankine heads wide at the near post in the 85th minute. That was point-blank range, and he should have scored.

The linesman gives us a free kick right on the edge of the box after a foul on Carlisle.
Plummer is going off after a promising debut to be replaced by Danny Stevens. And the first thing Danny does is to beat his marker and send in another low cross from the left which is cleared off the line.

A great save by Roberts in the 75th minute, tipping a 30-yarder from Lee Mansell over his bar.
And a good save by Bevan at the other end as danger man Tomlin closes in from the right and unleashes a powerful shot from a narrow angle.

Benyone blazes a shot over in the 73rd minute. His speed and awareness have given us a new dimension since he came on.
Hargreaves is having a mighty game again, and if the goal is credited to the skipper, it's a just reward.

GOAL - GULLS 1-0 R&D

Chris Hargreaves claims it, but it's hard to describe how that went in. Better wait for the Captain's Blog!
Wroe found Plummer on the left, Plummer went round his full back and sent in a low cross, and that's where it gets confusing. Hargreaves slid in and seemed to get the ball trapped under him. Then it was in, with Hargreaves and Carlisle both celebrating and a skirmish on the line including a number of disgruntled Rushden players.

The crowd are getting irate at a couple of Mr Melin's decisions. Matt Green hits the deck but the ref waves play-on, and Carlisle is pulled up for fouling his full-back, both decisions which have not gone down well with the tifosi.

Tomlin flashes the ball across the face of our goal on the hour, while we go right back up to the Ministand end and Benyon's cross is plucked off Matt Green's toe by Corcoran.
Rushden are being forced into a change as Wolleaston limps off to be replaced by Lewis Hilliard in the 61st minute.

Sam Smith - seven goals in six games - is on for Rushden, replacing Bolasie. He's their Elliot Benyon, apparently, coming on and scoring vital goals.
Cochrane is in the book in the 58th minute for a foul on Nicky Wroe.

Nicky Wroe volleys wide in the 51st minute from the edge of the box after being set up by Hargreaves.
Mistakes and chances at either end in the 53rd minute. Plummer just fails to get a shot in for us, while down the Babbacombe end Woods makes a rare error and lets Rankine in behind him, but the Rushden striker's shot is way over the top.
Now we have a free kick on the left, much like a corner, with Nicko over the ball. It hits Tomlin and goes behind for a corner which is just like a corner. Benyon goes down in the box under a challenge from Robinson. Worth a shout, but nothing doing.

In the 48th minute Benyon comes on to replace him. Plummer will come out to the left wing with Benyon joining Green in the middle.

And in the first minute of thre half Roscoe is down in the box with an injury after falling heavily.
It wasn't a foul, but they're calling for a stretcher. Has he popped his dislocated shoulder out again, the same injury he did at Wembley?
It looks that way, as he's making his painful way off the field.

And we're off again, playing towards the Ministand in the second half. The lights are on, but not even the glow of a few thousand candlepower can make this seem any warmer.
It's bitter out there. Nice in the press box under the one-bar electric wall heater, though...

It's so cold here that none of the Rushden subs are still on the field kicking in. Presumably they are down below in the dressing room cradling mugs of beefy Bovril. All five of ours are out in the middle, though. No mercy for Danny and his fellow bench-sitters.
Should this game end in a draw - perish the thought - there will be a replay up at Nene Park, presumably a week on Tuesday or thereabouts.

HALF TIME - GULLS 0-0 R&D

That's half time. Nicky Wroe has the last chance of the half but his sidefoot effort from the edge of the box is blocked.

A good game this, for a 0-0. There's plenty going on at both ends, and you wonder if our mistakes are going to cost us. Another Mansell mistake lets in Rankine, but Hargreaves clears.
There are 39 minutes on the clock.

Mansell reacts furiously after the ref judges him to have fouled. He's lucky not to get a card for dissent there, but Mr Melin is happy just to have a word.
In the 32nd minute there's another save from Bevan, this time going down to his left to gather from that man Tomlin after another shot from 20 yards.
And Bevan is now throwing the ball out rather than kicking it out.
In the 33rd minute Green is in on the keft just like he was against blackpool last week, but he carries the ball a bit further and Osano gets to him before he can shoot.
Straight up the other end and a mistake by Mansell lets Tomlin in but his flick goes just over the bar.

And Tomlin shoots a great chance wide for R&D after another mistake at the back for us which allows a long Osano free kick to find its way through to him.
Tomlin - yes, him again - now tries his luck from 25 yards but the shot this time goes wide of Bevan's left post.
Seconds later Marcus Kelly screws a shot over the bar for the visitors after another break.
Our problem here is that Nicko is taking the goal kicks for Bevan for some reason, and when R&D return the ball, Nicko is back there playing them onside. It has happened twice in the last two minutes.
There are 29 minutes gone now and no score.

In the 21st minute a mistake by Carlisle lets in Lee Tomlin for R&D. It's a good shot but Bevan is down to his right and holds it at the second attempt.
Dsane jinks into the box and goes down under a challenge inside the box. However, despite the Pop side's protests, that was as much not a penalty as any challenge I have ever seen. Get up, Roscoe!

Plummer plays a nice through ball for Green to chase in the 17th minute but Roberts is quick enough off his line to snuff out the danger.
Wayne Carlisle is getting a lecture from Mr Melin after a high-ish challenge on Kurt Robinson, and the free-kick whipped in from the left is glanced behind by Rankine.

Free kick to Torquay right on the edge of the box. This is Lee Hodges territory.
He curls it and Roberts has to fling himself to his right to push it around for a corner.

A good corner from Kevin Nicholson in the 11th minute but the defender on the near post beats Matt Green to the ball.
Corcoran crosses again from the right for the visitors, but Mansell is coollness personified and guides it back to Bevan off his chest.

A nice run from Roscoe Dsane down the left in the fifth minute, but after beating the full back he can't keep the ball in play.
A corner for R&D in the seventh after Bevan tips a Corcoran cross over his bar, and they have another as we fail to clear the loose ball.
Lee Tomlin takes it but it is cleared.

My mistake, the visitors' shirts have red trim on the right-hand side and blue on the left, giving them a sort of French rugby shirt look.
In the 3rd minute the visitors spring the offside trap with a smart cross ball by Marcus Kelly which finds Yannick Bolasie inside the box. Fortunately his shot is half-hearted and Bevan gathers it easily.

And we will play towards the Babbacombe End in the first half. So far, all is well with the world...
And the game is under way.

And the teams are out.
R&D play in all white with red trim. We are in all yellow of course.

At the risk of sounding repetitive, the weather is grey and perishing cold, just as it has been for the past few afternoon kick-offs here.
We can't expect a big crowd forn the FA Trophy. It's one of those competitions that no-one gives much of a hoot about until it gets to the later stages and a scorching May day at Wembley. Wouldn't that be nice....
There are 21 R&D fans in the away end so far.

Rushden have Roberts in goal; Cochrane, Hope, Osano and Robinson across the back; Kelly, Wolleaston, Corcoran and Bolasie across the middle and Rankine and Tomlin up front.
On the bench are Day, McGuinness, Smith, Hilliard and Cox.
Osano is Dave Thomas' official Player to Watch today, and Rob Wolleaston scored against us for Cambridge last season. He always seems to play well against us.
Referee is Paul Melin from Surrey.

GULLS V RUSHDEN & DIAMONDS

With Tim Sills suspended, who will come in up front for us?
It's Tristan Plummer, the 18-year-old loan signing from Bristol City making his first appearance for us. Apart from that we're unchanged. Bevan in goal, then Mansell, Hodges, Woods, Nicholson; Carlisle, Hargreaves, Wroe and Dsane; Green and Plummer. On the bench are Robertson, Benyon, Thompson, Stevens and Adams.
Hello to bloggers everywhere, by the way. We're being avidly read in Bristol, I believe...