Brentford stormed into the FA Cup 5th round for the first time in 16 years after their 1-0 win over Division Three rivals Hartlepool. A solitary goal from Isaiah Rankin was enough to take Martin Allen's side to Southampton for the next round.
Tottenham also made it into the 5th round thanks initially to a Rob Styles Special, gratefully converted by Robbie Keane to equalise West Brom's earlier goal. In the second half a Defoe double-strike secured the victory for Spurs. With Forest to play in the next round it looks like being a good cup year for the Spurs.
Fulham needed extra time in their 4th round replay to beat Derby 4-2. The Whites are off to Bolton in the next round, which will prove to be a much tougher task. West Ham however failed to make it a London clean sweep in the 4th round replays, losing on penalties to Sheffield United. A Teddy Sheringham penalty took the game to extra time and with both teams failing to break down the other, it went to penalties where the Blades triumphed 3-1.
There was only one Premiership tie involving London teams this weekend. Chelsea made rather harder work of beating 10-man Everton than they really should have. Gudjohnsen's 69th minute goal was enough to put the Blues 12 points clear at the top of the division.
A rotten weekend for our Division Two teams however. Millwall couldn't beat hapless Gillingham, drawing the game 0-0, while QPR lost 2-1 at home to Preston, and Watford had a torrid time against Sunderland, losing 4-2 to the Wearsiders.
A better time however was had by Leyton Orient in Division Four. Still trying to keep up with the play-off chase, they had an excellent 3-1 victory at home against third placed Swansea.
