Oxford City v Cirencester Town
The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON
Third Round Qualifying
3pm, Saturday 10 October 2009
Court Place Farm, Oxford City FC
Winning clubs will receive £7500 from The FA prize fund
Click here for all the Third Round Qualifying fixtures
Lee Steele reckons it took a spark of inspiration from Eastenders to finally kill off his FA Cup hoodoo.
The Oxford City striker waited nearly ten years to break his duck in the world's oldest Cup competition before scoring for Leyton Orient in their 1-0 win at Rushden & Diamonds in 2005.
A pre-match team talk from Ricky Groves, who plays mechanic Garry in the long-running soap opera, helped Steele send Orient on their way to a thrilling Cup run.
"The FA Cup hasn't been too kind to me and it took me nearly ten years to even get a goal in the competition," said the 35-year-old frontman.
"I remember getting the goal at Rushden because Garry from Eastenders came into the changing room before the game.
"I came off the bench and grabbed the winner and that set up a Third Round clash with Fulham. As soon as I saw that draw I knew we could have them and I remember seeing Luis Boa Morte out soon after and giving him stick.
"There was a bit of banter but I had to miss the game because I was injured and I was gutted."
Despite Steele's absence, Orient pulled off a stunning 2-1 win at Craven Cottage to dump the Premier League side out of the competition thanks to goals from Craig Easton and Joe Keith.
That saw Martin Ling's side progress to the Fourth Round and another London derby against Premier League opposition in the form of Charlton.
"I remember that game because we really should have won," added Steele. "It was an amazing day and I scored the equaliser in the second-half to make it 1-1.
"We should have gone on to finish them off but they got a lucky goal at the end and it was heartbreaking. At least the end of that season finished well, when we got promoted."
Steele's part in Orient's promotion from League Two went down well with current club Oxford City after the Scouser secured a last-gasp winner to send Oxford United spiralling out of the Football League.
Steele, who spent two years with United between 2002 and 2004, was then welcomed with open arms by City boss Mike Ford and says he is loving life at the Court Place Farm Stadium.
"It's a cracking club with big plans for the future and I'm really enjoying myself," said Steele, who scored all four goals in last weekend's win over Bedford.
"It would be fantastic to get through to the First Round Proper and get a league club away from home, especially for some of the younger lads.
"But we know we've got a tough game against Cirencester. They might be the league below us but we know they'll give us a really tough game.
"We're on a good run at the moment and as long as we can put on a good performance then we should be OK."