Canvey Island v AVELEY
The FA Cup Third Qualifying Round,
3pm Saturday October 12th 2002 
Winning club receives £10,000

Patients is a virtue at Ryman League First Division side Aveley - chairman Dave Patients that is.

Patients can't believe his tiny Essex club, average gate 90 and not even the biggest club in the Purfleet area, have drawn cup specialists Canvey Island, who have claimed the league scalps of Port Vale, Wigan and Northampton in the past two seasons.

But the FA Cup can be a great leveller as Patients remembers well from his management days in the mid-1980s.

"I took a Barking team to Plymouth. They only beat us 2-1 in the last few minutes - and ended up going all the way to the semi-finals," recalls Patients, whose day job is with Dagenham Motors.

"It was 1-1 and Plymouth got a late corner. Their striker Tommy Tynan turned to our centre half Andy Groom and asked what the Barking pitch was like. Andy started winding him up saying how small and bumpy it was. He must have lost concentration because the corner skidded off his head and Tynan popped in to score the winner! "

Village side Aveley beat Three Bridges 3-1 in the last round to become the new team on the FA.com trail.

This season has been a real eye-opener for them, after finishing third in Ryman Division Three last season they were promoted to Division One North under a league restructuring.

"We are only small compared to other teams like Slough and Harlow so 11 points from nine games is a reasonable haul, although the cup has made us take our eye off the league and we've lost our last four matches," says Patients. 

Aveley, who own their Mill Field ground, would like to eventually sell the stadium and build a new community stadium on Green Belt land. But the first priority is to spring a surprise at Canvey.
Jamie Blunden, re-signed from local rivals Purfleet six weeks ago, carries a goal threat while player-manager Steve Mosely has no intention of hanging up his boots yet.

"Steve used to play for me at Barking. He was a young lad then and now he is nearly 40," remarks Patients. "But he has good pedigree, he played for Dover Athletic when Peter Taylor was manager and he scored a penalty in the last round at Three Bridges."

PRIZE MONEY (£10,000) WILL BE SPENT ON...."It will go towards building a covered stand behind one of the goals which we need if he we go upto the Ryman Premiership" - Chairman Dave Patient

DID YOU KNOW...Patrick Vieira was the only player to have played every minute of every round in Arsenal's successful FA Cup campaign last season.

THE TRAIL SO FAR (featured club in italics)
Extra-Preliminary round - Greenwich Borough 1 Three Bridges 4
Preliminary round - Three Bridges 3 Didcot Town 1
First Qualifying Round - Chipstead 1 Three Bridges 3
Second Qualifying Round - Three Bridges 1 Aveley 3
Third qualifying round - Canvey Island v Aveley (playing Saturday)

* The FA Cup Trail is compiled by Joe Bernstein. The FA.Com will let you know how Aveley fare in this cup-tie and we will follow the winners through to the next round.

Click here for a full list of FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round Fixtures