It’s the time of year when youngsters up and down the country raid the tin foil drawer and make a pretend FA Cup trophy.

The time of year when supporters of bigger clubs become wary of banana skins (not literally!).

And the time of year when the underdogs give their decrepit stand a lick of paint, throw open their doors to the television cameras and do their best to produce a result which will satisfy the locals for years.

It’s the FA Cup third round… and once again it provided plenty of drama.

Here’s how it all unfolded, through the eyes of the BBC football live text commentary.

‘Son, have you seen my tin foil?’

Nick Bruzon says he taught his son (left) the “fine art of making a tin foil cup” ahead of Brentford v Walsall. You might want to scroll down to the bottom of this page to see how that ended! Meanwhile, Eastleigh’s cup game against Bolton was generating excitement in Paul Langston’s household (right)

Will they or won’t they at Eastleigh?

There was plenty of drama before the kick-off at Eastleigh as the referee did a number of pitch inspections – including one live on the BBC’s Football Focus

BBC Radio 5 live’s Mark Chapman tweeted this photo, which shows Eastleigh groundstaff trying to remove the covers without spilling any water. It’s as tricky as it sounds… and looks!

Luckily for those with FA Cup fever in Hampshire, there was a hardy band of volunteers ready to take on the elements. And win

And there was one extra special superhero, in the form of BBC Radio 5 live summariser Steve Claridge, who swapped his microphone for a pitch fork. Every little helps

Superheroes can’t be everywhere, mind, and despite the best efforts of these four people, Newport County’s home tie against Blackburn was postponed

The abandonment of the match at Newport was a particular disappointment for these Blackburn fans, who faced a 400-mile round trip without any football

Where were the shocks?

Remember the little lad who made a tin foil FA Cup? Well… it didn’t go too well for his Brentford side against Walsall. Unfortunately for him – and us – it was one of the main ‘shocks’ of the afternoon

It did, however, look like we were on for a right, royal shock when non-league Eastleigh took the lead against Championship side Bolton…

And the National League side almost made it 2-0, but the ball got stuck in the mud! Maybe the fan in the red hat racing into the penalty area thought about helping it home?

While we’re on the subject of headwear, here’s the Eastleigh groundsman. It was a memorable day for everyone at Silverlake Stadium, despite Bolton scoring a late equaliser to force a reply

But do the big clubs care?

Apparently not, judging by the number of changes they made – there were debutants up and down the country and more than one fan could be heard asking: ‘Who is that lad over there?’

Manchester City seemed to care. They made seven changes, but Sergio Aguero started and scored a wonderful goal to set them on their way to a 3-0 victory over Norwich

And these young Arsenal fans, who saw their side lift the trophy last season, were pretty pleased with their heroes’ 3-1 victory over Sunderland

What about Manchester United? Well, doesn’t Louis van Gaal’s expression say it all? The Reds laboured to victory over League One Sheffield United at Old Trafford

There was some light relief though…

Who doesn’t like to see pictures of cats? Especially when they are streaking across the Goodison Park pitch. “We’re trying to play a game of footy here, mate.”

And one for the dog lovers… here’s Aston Villa and Wycombe supporters mingling before their sides fought out a 1-1 draw

We still don’t, however, know why this football fan was making his way to Wycombe’s Adams Park with a roll of carpet…

The verdict?

Well that depends who you support… but these West Ham fans will have been pleased with their side’s late winner against Wolves

There was, however, misery for Doncaster fans as they were defeated by Stoke

But at least there’s one tin foil cup in the hat for Monday’s fourth-round draw… this Huddersfield one