Athletic’s coupon busters

ATHLETIC'S defeat of Nottingham Forest was not only the biggest FA Cup shock of the third round — it was also the FOURTH most unexpected result of the whole competition's last FIVE seasons.

According to figures online at Scoreboard Journalism, Paul Dickov's side were an average of

5.89-1 to defeat the Championship club.

Goals from Robbie Simpson (two) and Jose Baxter completed the trick, with Athletic named by Sun pundit Chris Kamara as 'team of the weekend.’

Even non-league Macclesfield, whose home advantage diminished their shock credentials, were only an average of 4.2-1 to see off Cardiff.

The only bigger upsets than that inflicted on Forest in the last five seasons are: Notts County's 2-1 win at Sunderland in 2010-11 (6.27-1); Forest's 3-0 triumph at Manchester City in 2008-09 (8.05-1); and Leeds United's 1-0 victory at Manchester United in 2009-10 (10.77-1).



DEAN Furman was absent from the South Africa line-up as Bafana slipped to a 1-0 home friendly loss to Norway.

Athletic's captain was given a rest from the Cape Town clash.

Bafana, who kick off the African Cup of Nations tournament a week on Saturday with a game against Cape Verde, missed a host of chances.