Last Update: 23rd December 2003
MINI RUN ENDEDAtt: 331
FA Trophy and beyondAs ours was the only Eastern Division game to be played on Saturday, the defeat has not affected our own league position and we remain in seventeenth place, having used up our game in hand on those around us. The win lifted Newport back into the top half of the table, into ninth, and after a good FA Cup run, they have games in hand to go into the top six. Whether they are good enough to stay there, only time will tell. Saturday saw many of our league rivals involved in the first round of the FA Trophy and here are their results, along with others of notional local interest. Burgess Hill Town 2 v 0 SittingbourneDulwich Hamlet 1 v 1 Yeading Eastbourne Borough 1 v 2 Welling United Erith & Belvedere 1 v 2 Eastleigh Folkestone Invicta 4 v 1 Hemel Hempstead Town Grays Athletic 2 v 2 Fisher Athletic Heybridge Swifts 0 v 1 Histon King's Lynn 3 v 1 Thame United Kingstonian 2 v 0 Stamford Lewes 4 v 2 Northwood Rothwell Town 1 v 1 Gloucester City Tonbridge Angels 1 v 3 Marlow Uxbridge 0 v 1 Bognor Regis Town Whyteleafe 1 v 1 Ashford Town Worthing 0 v 0 Cambridge City As far as Eastbourne were concerned, it was a disappointing FA Trophy defeat, following their FA Cup exit at Stevenage in the week. Just the fifteen match winless run and the relegation to come then! A below strength Borough line-up went in two down at half time and despite an early second half strike from our Simmo, they couldn't find an equaliser. Elsewhere, it was a good day for the Sussex sides and not quite so good for Kent, but Adam Flanagan did score the first of Folkestone's goals in a comfortable win. The result of the day, from an Eastern Division perspective, was Fisher's draw at full time Grays, who knocked Margate out of the FA Cup on Tuesday. Fisher were only denied a win by a late penalty and no, there was still no sign of Ellis Remy in the Grays side. Our reserves enjoyed a relatively straightforward afternoon, winning their first round tie in the Hastings Intermediate Cup away to Hooe Sports by two goals to nil. Ryan Peters and Steve Sands got the goals and a second round home clash with Rock-a-Nore or Westfield reserves now awaits. Our prospective opponents do not play their first round game until the end of the month, with the second round scheduled for early December. In the Go Travel Kent League Division One table, we have now slipped to third place behind Corinthian and Ashford, but retain games in hand on both. Next weekend, we are at home to struggling Cray Wanderers and follow that with trips to Corinthian and Dover, two matches that could have an early bearing on the outcome of the title. In the second round of the league cup, we have been drawn away to Dartford, who are currently bottom of the table, the tie to be played during December or January. In the Sussex County League, St Leonards crashed to a 4-1 defeat at Horsham YMCA and have now slumped into the bottom half of the league table, occupying twelfth place. A late Mickey O'Callaghan goal gave Rye & Iden United a 1-0 victory at Redhill, which lifted them up into eighth position, but still eight points behind leaders, Chichester, who have played two games fewer. Sidley United paid tribute to James Duffell and Liam Cox, ahead of their first game since the car accident that tragically cost the pair their lives. Sidley went on to beat bottom of the table Shoreham 4-0, to move within one place of St Leonards in the table. In the second division, Westfield lost 1-0 at Mile Oak but stay in sixth position. Meanwhile, remember Pease Pottage Village? Lost their first nine league games of the season by an aggregate score of 55-5, including an 18-0 reverse at Westfield. Well, I thought you might like to know that they have picked up four points in their last two games and are, all of a sudden, threatening to move off the foot of the table. Perhaps there is a moral there. No matter how bad things may seem, the good times are only ever one win away. Some of our own supporters would do well to remember that sometimes. Looking ahead to Tuesday 4 November, the first team are away to Fleet Town for a bit of a relegation six pointer and I am going to maintain my own personal record of never having been to Calthorpe Park. Any takers for the match report out there? Fleet were jointly managed by former Birmingham City hardman, Mark Dennis, and former Hampshire CCC wicketkeeper, Adrian Aymes last season, but both departed after Fleet survived relegation by the skin of their teeth. They have won only twice in the league to date this season and are two points and three places worse off than ourselves, although they did manage a 1-1 at home to Newport eleven days ago. We last played them in the 1999/2000 season, when we came back from two down early on to win 3-2 away from home, before a listless end of season 1-1 draw at the Pilot Field. If Steve Lovell can pick the lads up after Saturday's setback, it is a game that we are well capable of winning and I hope to at least be able to post half time and full time scores on the guestbook on Tuesday evening with some match details to follow on Wednesday. Then, the lads are off to King's Lynn next Saturday and I won't be going there either. I don't know. What sort of part-time supporter have I become? Sean Adams
OUCH!Att: 121
Other ResultsSince my last update, there have also been several FA Trophy ties resolved. On Sunday, Dartford were held to a 2-2 draw by Ashford Town (Middlesex) and lost 2-1 in Tuesday's replay. Fisher lost 3-0 at home to Grays in their replay on Monday night. Ashford (Kent) were beaten 2-1 at home by Whyteleafe, despite Lee McRobert's rare strike. Rothwell were thrashed 4-1 at Gloucester, albeit after extra time and Worthing triumphed in extra time, 3-2 at Cambridge. Yeading are also still involved after a 5-0 replay win over Dulwich. That leaves the second round draw looking like this. Alfreton Town v Vauxhall MotorsAltrincham v Southport Aylesbury United v Grays Athletic Bath City v Gloucester City Billericay Town v King's Lynn Blyth Spartans v Stocksbridge Park Steels Boreham Wood v Arlesey Town Burgess Hill Town v Staines Town Carshalton Athletic v Thurrock Chippenham Town v Basingstoke Town Cinderford Town v Lewes Dorchester Town v Harrow Borough Eastleigh v Histon Ford United v Chelmsford City Gresley Rovers v Hinckley United Halesowen Town v Hayes Harrogate Town v Barrow Havant & Waterlooville v Folkestone Invicta Hendon v Kettering Town Hornchurch v Newport County Hucknall Town v Nuneaton Borough Kingstonian v Bishop's Stortford Lancaster City v Hednesford Town Marine v Worcester City Marlow v Tiverton Town Redditch United v Stalybridge Celtic Rossendale United v Guiseley Runcorn FC Halton v Frickley Athletic Stafford Rangers v Spennymoor United St Albans City v Crawley Town Sutton United v Bedford Town Swindon Supermarine v Maidenhead United Taunton Town v Yeading Wealdstone v Hitchin Town Welling United v Dover Athletic Weston-super-Mare v Bognor Regis Town Weymouth v Ashford Town (Middlesex) Whitby Town v Bradford Park Avenue Whyteleafe v Worthing Windsor & Eton or Enfield v Canvey Island Worksop Town v Droylsden There have been no midweek fixtures for any of the other local sides. Sidley were due to be at home to St Leonards on Tuesday in the Hastings Senior Cup semi final, but that one has been put back until 18 November. There have been a handful of Sussex Senior Cup second round ties played already, including a couple on Tuesday. Our tie with Eastbourne United Association is due to be played next Tuesday and the full draw is below, including the results of the games already played. The draw for all of the future rounds has already been made and the winners of the first tie in the list will play the winners of the second, and so on. Therefore, as long as we win next week, we will be at home to East Preston in the third round and we will probably face Brighton, at home, in the quarter finals. It may appear, at first glance, that Albion had a comfortable win over Ringmer in their second round tie, but they trailed early on and only won the game with three goals in the last ten minutes of extra time. No easy games in this competition then. Haywards Heath Town v WorthingLewes v Horsham Crawley Town v Horsham YMCA Hassocks 0 v 4 Bognor Regis Town Whitehawk 0 v 1 Three Bridges Sidlesham v East Grinstead Town Oakwood 6 v 1 Chichester City United Arundel v Steyning Town Hastings United v Eastbourne United Association Broadbridge Heath 0 v 4 East Preston Hailsham Town v Eastbourne Town Brighton & Hove Albion 4 v 1 Ringmer (a.e.t. Played at Ringmer) St Leonards v Eastbourne Borough Southwick v Burgess Hill Town Littlehampton Town 2 v 1 Saltdean United (a.e.t.) Rye & Iden United v Pagham Before all that, we face the prospect of a long trip to King's Lynn on Saturday in search of some more league points, which, dare I suggest, we will not be favourites to collect. Tony Burt will probably be fit again by the weekend and Chris Honey and Graham Morris will obviously be available for selection once again. It remains to be seen what other changes Steve Lovell will make after two very disappointing results, which have put us on the back foot once again, as far as the battle at the bottom of the table is concerned. King's Lynn are off to a very decent start and lie in third position with twenty-six points from twelve games. They have won five out of six at home, but just to prove that they are beatable, Burnham won 2-1 at The Walks a few weeks ago. Probably fair to say that it would be more of a surprise if we were to repeat their success, but you never know. Although their's is not a ground I have ever visited, I do have happy memories of one particular away match at King's Lynn. Hastings Town won 4-1 there, on the day I got married in 1996. It may well have been the return game at the Pilot Field, that we won 3-2 having been two down, but that could have been another year. I am sure that we would all settle for a repeat of either of those scores on Saturday. Sadly, with impending fatherhood less than three weeks away now, I will not be going myself. As with the Fleet game though, I will find out what I can and report accordingly on Sunday. Sean Adams
ROYAL BLUSHAtt: 680
ElsewhereNaturally, our eighth defeat of the season did little to assist our desperate league position, although we were boosted by the fact that none of the sides below us managed a win. Chatham and Rothwell did pick up a point each, but Corby lost and Erith were due to be playing Salisbury, but didn't. Leaders Tonbridge should have been playing Histon and their lead was cut to a mere eleven points by King's Lynn. Eastleigh are up to third and a first win in nine for Ashford took them back into the top six. Here are all of Saturday's results. Ashford Town 1 v 0 StamfordBashley 3 v 0 Folkestone Invicta Burgess Hill Town 0 v 0 Rothwell Town Chatham Town 0 v 0 Fleet Town Corby Town 0 v 1 Newport IoW Dartford 2 v 2 Banbury United Eastleigh 3 v 1 Fisher Athletic King's Lynn 4 v 2 Hastings United Sittingbourne 4 v 1 Burnham The reserves returned to league action after a four week break and returned to the top of the table as well, after a 2-1 win at home to Cray Wanderers and thanks to Ashford's 0-0 draw at Deal. Cray are in the lower reaches of the league and our lads had won 2-1 at their place a couple of months ago, so a comfortable win seemed to be on the cards, especially with the likes of Steve Hafner, Ryan Peters, Scott Hayhoe and Joe Cornwall in the starting line-up. Cray were having none of it though, and dominated the opening exchanges, with Sam Harris-Green making one outstanding early save. In the seventeenth minute, Joe's inswinging free kick found the head of unmarked new signing, John Young, to give us the lead and just a few minutes later, Cray had two men sent off, one for a dangerous tackle on Steve and another for dissent. The rest of the half passed without much incident, but after the break, Cray played the better football and Sam had to make a handful of saves to keep us in front. Cray got the equaliser, that their endeavours deserved, after sixty-five minutes and might have gone on to win. But, with ten minutes left, Simon Corke's fine run and low cross from the right, resulted in a second goal for John and we hung on for three rather fortunate points. You will often hear Premiership managers claiming that it is harder to play against ten men than eleven. Not sure if that applies to nine men though. Brought back memories of a league game at home to Corby several years ago, when, trailing 1-0 and reduced to nine, Corby came back to win 2-1. The reserves are away to third placed Corinthian next Saturday and visit Dover the following Wednesday. That will be a four day period, in which they could, quite possibly win, or lose, the title. Good luck to them. As I have already mentioned, Saturday was FA Cup first round day and, unusually, two of our Eastern Division rivals had made it into the draw. As it happens, the ever-increasing demands of the television companies meant that there was one tie on Friday and several more on Sunday, one of which is Salisbury's dream trip to face Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. Histon, on their first round debut, were given the sort of draw that we were last year, away to Woking of the Conference at the impressive Kingfield Stadium. Histon are not exactly the best supported side in our league, but I'm sure that their 'fans' will have enjoyed their day out, especially the moment when Adrian Cambridge gave them a second minute lead. Before half time, former Arsenal man, Ian Selley, scored twice and former Crystal Palace striker, Chris Sharpling, once, and Woking ran out 3-1 winners. Elsewhere, there were upset wins for Burton at Torquay, Scarborough at home to Doncaster, and our old friends Stevenage at home to Stockport. Ryman League sides, Thurrock and Ford, managed creditable draws against Luton and Port Vale respectively. Weston-super-Mare are the only Dr Martens League side to make it through to round two, as Crawley threw away a two goal half time lead, before losing in stoppage time at Telford. Here are all of the results from games involving non league sides, with six more to come on Sunday. News of those games and the second round draw will be included in the midweek report. Barnet 2 v 2 Stalybridge CelticBlackpool 4 v 0 Boreham Wood Brentford 7 v 1 Gainsborough Trinity Chester City 0 v 1 Gravesend & Northfleet Farnborough Town 0 v 1 Weston-super-Mare Grantham Town 1 v 2 Leyton Orient Grays Athletic 1 v 2 Aldershot Town Hartlepool United 4 v 0 Whitby Town Kidderminster Harriers 2 v 1 Northwich Victoria Lancaster City 1 v 2 Cambridge United Mansfield Town 6 v 0 Bishop's Stortford Peterborough United 2 v 0 Hereford United Port Vale 2 v 2 Ford United Scarborough 1 v 0 Doncaster Rovers Scunthorpe United 2 v 1 Shrewsbury Town Stevenage Borough 2 v 1 Stockport County Telford United 3 v 2 Crawley Town Thurrock 1 v 1 Luton Town Torquay United 1 v 2 Burton Albion Woking 3 v 1 Histon Eastbourne Borough slipped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Newport County on Saturday and are now down in eleventh place in the Premier Division table. Mind you, that is still only seven points off Weymouth's lead and Borough do have a game in hand. It's five games without a win now for Garry Wilson's men, in all competitions, but a trip to The Firs lies ahead of them on Wednesday for a Sussex Senior Cup tie, so a chance to put that right. St Leonards warmed up for that one by 'thrashing' bottom of the table Shoreham 3-0 at home in the County League, to end a run of four successive defeats. Jody Ricketts, Dave Fisher and Michael Morgan were the goalscorers in front of just fifty-four spectators. Rye & Iden United won 3-1 at Horsham YMCA (yes, they did beat St Leonards 4-1 last week). Simon Fox scored two and Scott Price converted a penalty inbetween. Sidley United also won, 3-1 at home to Selsey, and in division two, Westfield won 4-2 at Saltdean to complete a decent weekend for the locals, with Bexhill United and Rye & Iden United Reserves both reaching the third round of the Sussex Intermediate Cup for good measure. My adopted team, Pease Pottage Village, are off the bottom of the second division after a 1-0 at home to Peacehaven & Telscombe. Three without defeat for them now and flying. Our next opponents, Eastbourne United Association, warmed up for Tuesday's Sussex Senior Cup clash with a 1-1 draw at leaders, Worthing United, to leave them in fourth place, just above Westfield. Do you see how I'm trying to talk them up a bit, just in case the unimaginable happens. Surely, we're due a run in one cup competition this season. Aren't we? Don't forget that, in light of the criticism over League Cup exit, the club has reduced admission prices slightly for Tuesday's game, although we will be fielding our strongest available side. Fair play to the club though, for listening to it's supporters and acting. Whatever next? Sean Adams
STALEMATEAtt: 128
Sussex Senior CupEast Preston must wait another week to see who they will be visiting in the third round then. A handful of ties have been settled this week, with some of our Dr Martens League rivals showing how it should be done, including Eastbourne Borough winning 3-0 at The Firs courtesy of Scott Ramsey's hattrick. Here is how the full list of second round ties now looks, including games played in previous weeks. Remember, the draw for all of the future rounds is already in place and it will follow that Haywards Heath or Worthing will be at home to Lewes, Crawley at home to Bognor Regis, and so on. Haywards Heath Town v Worthing (Playing 18 November)Lewes 6 v 2 Horsham Crawley Town 7 v 1 Horsham YMCA Hassocks 0 v 4 Bognor Regis Town Whitehawk 0 v 1 Three Bridges Sidlesham v East Grinstead Town (Playing 15 November) Oakwood 6 v 1 Chichester City United Arundel 6 v 0 Steyning Town Hastings United 2 v 2 Eastbourne United Association (a.e.t.) Broadbridge Heath 0 v 4 East Preston Hailsham Town 0 v 1 Eastbourne Town Brighton & Hove Albion 4 v 1 Ringmer (a.e.t. Played at Ringmer) St Leonards 0 v 3 Eastbourne Borough Southwick 1 v 6 Burgess Hill Town Littlehampton Town 2 v 1 Saltdean United (a.e.t.) Rye & Iden United v Pagham (Playing 15 November) Before that exciting replay at Eastbourne next week, we are back in DM Eastern Division action on Saturday when Folkestone visit the Pilot Field for the second time in less than three weeks. Indeed, it will be our third meeting with them already this season and we have two defeats to avenge of course, the 2-0 League reverse at the Westbourne Stadium back in August and that 6-2 League Cup hammering at the Pilot Field last month. On Tuesday, Folkestone advanced to the third round of that competition after Adam Flanagan's last minute goal gave them a 3-2 win at home to Fisher Athletic. That followed a 3-0 league defeat at Bashley last Saturday, which left Folkestone in eighth place in the table, with nineteen points from just the ten games played. Not the easiest of matches to look forward to then, on the back of our current winless run, which now stretches to five games. Maybe we'll see some of the first teamers back on Saturday, if they're free of course. Tony Burt is definitely not, so the defence is not going to be at it's strongest once again, which means that the reserves may will be deprived of Graham Morris, David Henham and Russell Eldridge, amongst others, for their important trip to Corinthian. News of both games will appear on Sunday, as usual. Sean Adams
BAD FOLKESTONE RUN CONTINUESAtt: 331
ElsewhereBizarrely enough, our latest defeat did nothing to improve our league position, although we remain in eighteenth place. Chatham were the only winners of the four teams below us and their victory suggests that we should be able to pick up three points ourselves when we go to Cecil Street in a couple of weeks. We are now just the one point ahead of three clubs and four clear of Erith, with a midweek programme to come, in which we do not feature. The top four all won, Tonbridge for the fourteenth time in fifteen games, so it's as you were at the business end. Histon managed to go one better than Folkestone, as they only equalised in the last minute of their match at home to Sittingbourne, before winning it in stoppage time. The only attendance greater than at the Pilot Field, was the 561 that watched Salisbury beat Corby. Here are all of the Eastern Division results from Saturday. Banbury United 1 v 0 Ashford TownBashley 1 v 2 King's Lynn Burnham 0 v 3 Dartford Erith & Belvedere 1 v 3 Tonbridge Angels Fisher Athletic 1 v 3 Burgess Hill Town Fleet Town 0 v 3 Eastleigh Hastings United 1 v 2 Folkestone Invicta Histon 2 v 1 Sittingbourne Rothwell Town 0 v 2 Chatham Town Salisbury City 2 v 0 Corby Town Stamford 1 v 0 Newport IoW The poor old Reserves were left well and truly in the lurch ahead of their important trip to Corinthian. As I mentioned earlier, sixteen players are currently absent for one reason or another and, so I was told, such was the Reserves plight, that Assistant Manager, Phil Boswell, was forced to name himself as a substitute for the game. This lack of personnel resulted in a 7-1 drubbing, which rather undid the benefit of our lads' 6-1 win in the home fixture earlier in the season. Corinthian have now leapfrogged us to go a point clear at the top of the table. We remain a point ahead of Ashford, who lost 1-0 at home to Erith, and visit Dover on Wednesday with a two point advantage, after their 2-1 win at Danson. In the Premier Division, Eastbourne's troublesome form continued as they lost 1-0 at Weymouth. Steve Claridge got the winner in front of the biggest Dr Martens League crowd of the day, 1159 at the Wessex Stadium. Borough stay in mid-table as a result while Crawley slipped to sixth, after their first away defeat of the season, 4-0 at Hinckley. Not a bad day for the other local sides. Rye & Iden United advanced to the third round of the Sussex Senior Cup with a 2-1 win at home to league rivals Pagham, Scott Price and Nathan Godden scoring the goals, both in the first half. Rye & Iden will next be away to Littlehampton. In the third round of the RUR Charity Cup, Sidley United thrashed second division Broadbridge Heath 8-0 and will visit Oakwood in the quarter finals. The St Leonards barmy army were out in force again, swelling the crowd to forty for the goalless draw at Whitehawk. Mind you, there were only 65 at Rye and with all the Folkestone supporters at the Pilot Field, I wouldn't have put the home support down at much more than 200. What are people doing with their Saturday afternoons these days? Westfield won 2-1 at Steyning in their Division Two Cup second round replay and will now be at home to Mile Oak in the last eight. In the league, Eastbourne United Association warmed up for Tuesday with a 6-0 win at home to Haywards Heath Town. Before anyone gets too concerned, it should be pointed out that Haywards Heath are bottom of the table, with a worse record than Pease Pottage Village even. The Village lost 2-1 at home to Wick today. All good things coming to an end there, after three games without defeat. And so, to Tuesday then. That baby of mine shows no immediate sign of arrival and I am still debating whether or not to go to the replay. If I thought that it would be to watch the Reserves again, I certainly wouldn't bother, but as they have that league game at Dover on Wednesday, it would appear that Steve Lovell will have no choice but to give the first team a run out, even he does wish to protect them from injury. It has been suggested to me that Tuesday's team will possibly consist mainly of local players, with Wednesday's having a more Kentish feel to it. One exception to that will be Tony Burt, who does not return to these shores until late on Tuesday and is likely to feature at the Crabble, as a result. It should all mean that we will take a rather more respectable line-up to Eastbourne, than we saw for the first game and I hope that we will not be in need of the extra time or penalties on offer this time. I don't think I could handle that much suspense anyway. Sean Adams
ABJECTAtt: 245
ElsewhereAnd so, was it worth sending another half strength side to the Crabble for Wednesday's reserve league fixture with Dover? Obviously not, if the 5-2 scoreline in Dover's favour is anything to go by. As I write this, I have no idea of the actual line-up, or the Hastings goal scorers for that matter, although, in theory, the side should have contained the likes of Tony Burt, Jimmy Elford, Charlie Belcher, Mitchell Sherwood, Carl Rook, Steve Hafner, Ryan Peters and Ricky Spiller, if Tuesday's absentees are anything to go by, although I accept that not all of those lads are Kent based. I do know that Steve Lovell himself had decided to register as a player, due to the dearth of able bodies, but if any of these other players were not present at Dover, then we must ask why they were not at Eastbourne either. Burtie, who is rumoured to have decided to hang up his boots by the way, was on his way back from overseas, that much we do know. Jimmy has been injured recently, but started on Saturday and Charlie was withdrawn against Folkestone, but that looked purely tactical. It all seems like a complete waste of time, effort and money to me, to send two medium strength sides out to defeat on successive evenings, when one of the games was a reasonably important first team cup tie. For fear of sounding like a broken record, I will say no more on the matter, for now. The reserves' defeat, coupled with Saturday's heavy loss at Corinthian, has seen them slip to third in the Go Travel Kent League Division One table. They are now a point behind each of their recent conquerors, having played a game less than Dover and a game more than Corinthian. They remain a point ahead of Ashford, on whom they have a game in hand as well. Not exactly the end of their season then. There have been eight Dr Martens League Eastern Division fixtures played this midweek. Of the four sides below us after Saturday's games, Chatham didn't have a league game, but did beat Burgess Hill 1-0 at home, in the second round of the League Cup. Erith & Belvedere and Rothwell both lost, but Corby's shock win at home to King's Lynn, did take them a couple of points clear of us, leaving us in 19th place. We can clearly expect a very tough encounter at the Rockingham Triangle Stadium this weekend. Interestingly, King's Lynn sacked their manager in the wake of their 4-2 victory over ourselves last week, in spite of the fact that they are second in the league. Some things just beggar belief. The runaway leaders, Tonbridge, were not in action, but their advantage remains eleven points, after slip-ups for King's Lynn, Eastleigh and Histon. Eastleigh have also suffered a three point deduction for fielding an ineligible player during their win 1-0 at Rothwell in October. We can thank our lucky stars that Rothwell haven't been awarded the points instead. Here is the full list of midweek results. Dartford 3 v 1 Fisher AthleticFolkestone Invicta 6 v 1 Fleet Town Histon 2 v 2 Banbury United Newport IoW 0 v 2 Bashley Sittingbourne 3 v 1 Erith & Belvedere Stamford 1 v 0 Rothwell Town Corby Town 2 v 1 King's Lynn Eastleigh 1 v 2 Salisbury City Tuesday also saw the first semi final of the Hastings Senior Cup with Sidley United running out 2-0 winners over St Leonards at the Gullivers. Owen Ball and Adam Day got the goals as Sidley avenged their league defeat earlier in the season. The second semi final takes place next Tuesday, between Westfield and a Hastings United XI, assuming we can be bothered to send eleven players out of course. After the Eastbourne debacle, I am almost hoping that the decision to go to that one, is taken out of my hands, as that baby of mine is actually due the same day. Now, I never thought that I would be writing those words. And what of that rumour about Burtie calling it a day? I wouldn't wish to put words into his mouth as it were, but it must be absolutely soul destroying for the guy to witness what has gone on at the Pilot Field in the last year or so. It is only eighteen months since he led the squad up to collect the Eastern Division championship shield and look at us now. Hardly any of that squad remains at the club, money is scarce and prospects are bleak. You can't exactly blame him for deciding that enough is enough and that last week's home game with Eastbourne would be his 487th and last for the club. At least he will have bowed out with a goal, his 18th in all. One can only hope that this rumour proves to be unfounded. We have struggled without Burtie's sheer presence at the back too often this season already. His would be immense boots to have to fill on a permanent basis. I will end with some vaguely promising news of one potential new signing, as we apparently put in one of those seven day letters of approach for Greg Nessling, the St Leonards goalkeeper, over a week ago now. Whether the intention is to bring him in to replace Will Toal or Matt Brown, I don't know. Matt has been suffering with an ankle injury of late and Will was struggling with a groin strain during the Folkestone match, although the approach would have pre-dated that game. Sam Harris-Green is probably seen as far too young and inexperienced for the Dr Martens League and with Paul Sansome having played in goal against Chatham back in September, Greg could become our fifth keeper of the season if he signs. Not sure that the five of them combined will offset the loss of Burtie though. Sean Adams
AWAYDAY WINAtt: 59
ElsewhereOur win and Fleet's heavy home defeat saw us move up two places in the table to 17th. It is pretty tight down near the bottom though, with just the three points separating Fisher in 15th, from Corby in 20th. Erith and Rothwell continue to occupy the relegation places and we visit the latter next Saturday, of course. Meanwhile, Chatham are the team in form at the moment, two wins in a row and three without defeat after an excellent result against 5th placed Bashley. At the top, Tonbridge won again and retain their eleven point lead over King's Lynn, with Histon hurdling Eastleigh into 3rd. Here are all of Saturday's results. Ashford Town 1 v 2 HistonBanbury United 2 v 1 Erith & Belvedere Burgess Hill Town 5 v 2 Eastleigh Chatham Town 3 v 1 Bashley Corby Town 2 v 3 Hastings United Fleet Town 2 v 5 Fisher Athletic Folkestone Invicta 2 v 2 Stamford King's Lynn 4 v 1 Dartford Newport IoW P v P Burnham Rothwell Town 0 v 2 Salisbury City Sittingbourne 0 v 2 Tonbridge Angels Unable to get to Corby, I ventured to the Pilot Field to watch the depleted Reserves again and saw some of the most unpleasant scenes I have witnessed at a football match for many years. Our lads were trying to shrug off heavy recent defeats at Corinthian and Dover and started shakily against mid-table Danson Furness, with Sam Harris-Green making three fine saves in the opening twenty-five minutes to keep the scoreline blank. Hastings suddenly began to find their feet and produced three goals in the space of ten minutes before half time. First, Ian Young ran on to Joe Cornwall's long through ball to open the scoring. Next, Danny Ellis fired home from six yards after Joe Heasmer's cross from the left wasn't cleared and finally, Ian knocked the ball into an empty net, after the visitors made a hash of Joe Cornwall's inswinging free kick. Joe Heasmer sent a thirty yard pile driver onto the underside of the crossbar too, but things had begun to get a bit tetchy by then and Danson had had their skipper booked for dissent, when things got completely out of hand. Danny ran clear on goal, had his heels clipped by a chasing defender, only for the ref to wave play on. Danny decided to exact his own retribution and was guilty of a poor late challenge as the defender cleared, followed by what appeared to be a headbutt as the two players confronted each other. Considering that this was all seen by the assistant ref, it was quite astonishing that Danny was only cautioned and things simmered until the half time whistle blew, when players on both sides squared up to each other, spoiling for a fight. The break calmed everything down and, after the interval, we saw Sam earning his wages with three more excellent saves as Danson tried to play their way back into the match. That was until Danny was taken out by another defender, who was booked and promptly substituted to prevent him from getting himself sent off later. Then, Ian went in for a tackle in midfield and seemed to win the ball, although his opponent proceeded to writhe around in apparent agony. Ian exacerbated the problem by declining to kick the ball out of play to let the guy get treatment and I suspect that this, as much as the tackle itself, incensed the Danson players. Their colleague was able to hobble to the touchline and was just preparing to come back on, when Joe Cornwall was the victim of a dreadful foul, which broke his leg. Whether or not there was intent to harm him that badly, I don't know, but the perpetrator was sent off and after about a ten minute delay, the referee abandoned the game with around eight minutes to go. Joe was left lying motionless in the rain for half an hour, before an ambulance arrived to attend to him. The poor guy, only recently back from that broken collar bone he suffered in the pre-season friendly against a Crystal Palace XI, now faces another lengthy spell on the sidelines. Let's hope that the Kent County FA ensures that his assailant is unable to play for some time too. It was a shocking incident and, for me, was made still worse by the Danson players and officials banging on about the tackle by Ian shortly before. They seemed to be suggesting that, had the ref dealt with that incident in an 'appropriate' fashion, the lad wouldn't have taken Joe out in the way he did. That rather suggests that it was merely an act of deliberate and cowardly retaliation, albeit on a different player, and makes it all the more reprehensible, in my opinion. I also trust that the 3-0 scoreline will be permitted to stand and it would be quite useful for the return fixture not to be scheduled for early December. It may take several months for certain wounds to heal, both physical and psychological. Assuming that they do count, the three points will take our lads back to the top of the table, as all the other games, scheduled for Saturday, were postponed. That seems much less important after what happened to Joe though, and best wishes to him for a speedy recovery. The Reserves starting line-up, by the way, was Sam Harris-Green, Simon Stickney, Joe Heasmer, Simon Corke, James Glavin, Bruce Sands, James Sims, Joe Harman, Ian Young, Danny Ellis and Joe Cornwall. I am afraid that I did not recognise the sub who replaced James Glavin in the second half. It wasn't a great day for most of the other local sides. Eastbourne Borough extended their winless run in the league to four games, held 1-1 at home by struggling Chelmsford. Scott Ramsay scored his seventh league goal of the season, an equaliser just before half time, as Eastbourne remain in mid-table. In the County League, Rye & Iden United moved back into the top six after a comfortable 3-0 win at home to Selsey. An early own goal set them on their way and late goals from Shaun Loft and Simon Fox sealed the victory. St Leonards plumbed new depths, losing 3-0 at home to Pagham, who started the day third bottom, all the goals coming in the second half. Just 53 in attendance at The Salts and at The Firs today, even though we were away. Where did they go? Well, 102 saw Sidley also suffer a disappointing home defeat, 4-2 against East Grinstead. In division two, Westfield enjoyed an easy 4-1 win at home to bottom club Haywards Heath, which meant that those Pease Pottage Village boys stayed off the basement, despite losing 4-2 at Midhurst. 64 at The Parish Field incidentally. Arundel, Three Bridges and Whitehawk will all be in the draw for the third round of the FA Vase on Monday, although only Whitehawk, 5-2 winners over Burnham Ramblers, are definitely through. The other two had their games called off, due to waterlogged pitches. Tuesday sees the first team back in action at The Pilot Field, taking on Westfield in the Hastings Senior Cup semi-final, the winners to play Sidley in the final. I will forgive all those concerned if it is decided to send a mixed, or even a full, reserve side out for that one. The club have announced that admission prices will be reduced to £4 for adults, £2 for OAPs and £1 for children, so I think it is fair to assume that the full first team will not be playing. However nice it would be to win some silverware this season, or even just to get past the first round of one cup competition, byes excepted, the Hastings Senior Cup just doesn't carry the same weight, now that St Leonards are only County League. Like it did before! Next Saturday, it's back to Northamptonshire, and to Cecil Street, to face Rothwell Town, with another league double up for grabs. Rothwell are without a league win in eleven, which includes that 1-0 defeat at The Pilot Field last month. In that run, they have scored only one goal and in fact they have only managed five all season, although they don't concede that many either. It is another important game for us and an excellent chance to put some real distance between ourselves and the bottom two. Can't get to that one either, I'm afraid, which is a pity, as I've never been to Rothwell, although I haven't missed much, so I gather. The Reserves are at home to Ramsgate and that's where you will find me, baby permitting as usual. Let's hope there is more good news to report next week, without any bad injury news to tarnish it. Sean Adams
FIRST CUP WINAtt: 124
ElsewhereJust the two games scheduled in the Eastern Division this midweek. Corby are due to take on Stamford at home on Wednesday, a replay of a game abandoned because of floodlight failure earlier in the campaign. On Tuesday, Histon's home game against Rothwell was a victim of a waterlogged pitch, so no further clues about our next opponents there then. There is interesting news coming out of Tonbridge at the moment. The runaway league leaders are suddenly suffering with financial problems after the withdrawal of their main sponsor. It would appear that the club has a gross wage bill of £14,000 per month and, after earlier than expected exits from the FA Cup and the FA Trophy, the club directors are having to put their hands in their own pockets at the moment, just to make ends meet. A proposal to cut wages across the board has met with a cool reception from manager, Alan Walker, and there appears to be a very real possibility that he could resign if his hand is forced in the matter. The search is on to find a new sponsor and one with deep pockets of their own presumably, but one wonders whether this will eventually end up in tears. An eleven point lead and forty-six points out of forty-eight is an awesome start to a season, in which Tonbridge were very much targeting promotion. They may still achieve that aim, of course, but I do wonder if there can be parallels drawn between their situation and that of St Leonards when they went up to the Premier a few years back, only to struggle horribly due to a lack of revenue and increased trading costs, with immediate relegation being the inevitable outcome and look where they are now. Bear in mind, that if Tonbridge do win the Eastern, they will go into a play-off with the Western champions, for a place in the newly formed Conference South. How the hell will they cope? It is a sad situation and, let's face it, we are in the best position to empathise with their potential plight, given the downturn in our own financial stability at the end of last season. As none of the other local sides are due to be in league or cup action this midweek, there is nothing much else to say for the time being. As I am typing these closing remarks in the early hours of Wednesday morning, I can now say that the baby is officially overdue, but at least it gave me an opportunity to see Tuesday's game. Unless the dear little bundle of joy decides to wait until Saturday before popping out, I shall return with a third hand account of our trip to Rothwell, as soon as Karl has had a chance to update the site on Sunday. Sean Adams
SECOND LEAGUE DOUBLEAtt: 133
ElsewhereAs I have already mentioned, the win took us up three places in the table, past Corby once again, who were without a game. We also moved above Burnham, who visit The Pilot Field next week, and Fisher, who we visit the week after, and both of whom conceded four at home this weekend. Rothwell were the only one of the bottom four teams in league action this weekend and Tonbridge were the only one of the top six to play, extending their lead to fourteen points and their unbeaten start to seventeen games. Banbury and Salisbury both moved into the top six at the expense of Bashley and Folkestone. Saturday's results were: Burnham 0 v 4 Banbury UnitedFisher Athletic 1 v 4 Stamford Newport IoW 3 v 2 Ashford Town Rothwell Town 2 v 3 Hastings United Salisbury City 3 v 1 Dartford Tonbridge Angels 2 v 1 Fleet Town Only six games in the Eastern Division due to it being second round day in the FA Trophy. Five of our league rivals were involved, with King's Lynn and Histon going through to round three and Folkestone earning a home replay. Not having been bothered to pick out local results, or to sort them into alphabetical order, here are all of Saturday's Trophy results: Harrogate Town 2 v 2 BarrowAltrincham 1 v 0 Southport Lancaster City 1 v 1 Hednesford Town Whitby Town 1 v 1 Bradford Park Avenue Rossendale United v P Guiseley Gresley Rovers 3 v 2 Hinckley United Marine 2 v 0 Worcester City Stafford Rangers 2 v 1 Spennymoor United Blyth Spartans 4 v 2 Stocksbridge Park Steels Hucknall Town 2 v 1 Nuneaton Borough Runcorn FC Halton 3 v 2 Frickley Athletic Alfreton Town 1 v 1 Vauxhall Motors Worksop Town 1 v 0 Droylsden Redditch United 0 v 3 Stalybridge Celtic Marlow 3 v 0 Tiverton Town Ford United 4 v 1 Chelmsford City Wealdstone 1 v 0 Hitchin Town Hornchurch 1 v 0 Newport County Boreham Wood 1 v 2 Arlesey Town Burgess Hill Town 1 v 2 Staines Town Bath City 2 v 1 Gloucester City Billericay Town 0 v 2 King's Lynn Eastleigh 1 v 4 Histon Whyteleafe P v P Worthing St Albans City 0 v 0 Crawley Town Welling United 0 v 1 Dover Athletic Weymouth 3 v 3 Ashford Town (Middlesex) Dorchester Town 3 v 0 Harrow Borough Sutton United 2 v 0 Bedford Town Hendon 1 v 1 Kettering Town Swindon Supermarine 3 v 3 Maidenhead United Cinderford Town P v P Lewes Carshalton Athletic 2 v 2 Thurrock Kingstonian 0 v 2 Bishop's Stortford Havant & Waterlooville 2 v 2 Folkestone Invicta Aylesbury United 2 v 2 Grays Athletic Weston-super-Mare 1 v 0 Bognor Regis Town Halesowen Town 1 v 3 Hayes Chippenham Town 1 v 1 Basingstoke Town Windsor & Eton 1 v 3 Canvey Island Taunton Town 3 v 3 Yeading Those hardy few who braved the elements and went to watch the reserves on Saturday were treated to another typical run-of the-mill kind of encounter. The lads were up against bottom of the table Ramsgate, but were denied the services of Joe Cornwall amongst many others and lined-up (I think) thus; Sam Harris-Green, James Glavin, Joe Heasmer, Steve Sands, Graham Morris, James Sims, Dominic Cruttenden, Bruce Sands, Ian Young, Danny Ellis and Joe Harmer. They got off to a decent start and took an 8th minute lead, when Steve Sands free kick was poorly defended and Joe Heasmer fired home from six yards out. Ramsgate equalised in the 25th minute and proceeded to score four goals in the space of eight minutes thanks to a combination of slack marking, weak defending and indifferent goalkeeping. Dominic sprung the offside trap to pull one back in first half stoppage time and the comeback continued after the break, when Dominic scored again and when Graham headed in from a corner to level, at least twenty minutes still remained. The visiting skipper got away with just a yellow card after chasing, kicking and punching Danny, who was also booked, presumably for not dodging, jumping or ducking out of the way. Ramsgate had an effort cleared off the line, after Sam's would be clearance was blocked and our lads created numerous chances in the closing stages, but all to no avail. It was a cracking game of football though and one that we probably ought to have won, that eight minute first half spell notwithstanding. Unfortunately, the point, coupled with victories for Corinthian and Dover, means that we are now three points off the pace in the league table, still in third place though. Next week, it's away to Dartford. Eastbourne Borough finally returned to winning ways in the DM Premier and in emphatic style too, 3-0 at Grantham. Our old favourite, Yatesie, got the scoring underway in the 11th minute and two second half goals from Scott Ramsay sealed the win, which kept Borough in 11th place. In the County League, Rye & Iden's match at Shoreham was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, while St Leonards agreed to a request from Redhill to call off their clash at the Firs, after the recent death of Redhill's vice-chairman. Sidley were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Southwick and slip to 14th place, Adam Day's late penalty rescuing the point. In Division Two, Westfield were thumped 5-0 at home by struggling Oakwood, who had been without an away win going into the game, and drop a place to 5th. Rock-a-Nore's 3-1 win over Westfield reserves means that they will call at The Pilot Field in December to play our reserves in the third round of the Hastings Intermediate Cup. The fact that I am able to bring you all this detail is an indication that the wife is still larger than life itself, waiting for that baby to make an appearance. Just the four days late now. As our teams have a blank midweek ahead of them, it has ample opportunity for a timely arrival, but with each passing day, the Burnham game creeps ever closer. At the moment, I remain totally confident of being there, hopefully to witness a fourth straight win, against a Burnham side, who have failed to win any of their last seven matches, shipping seventeen goals in the process and scoring just three. That run has seen them drop into the bottom five and if Chatham can beat King's Lynn on Tuesday, they will have slipped still further by the time Saturday comes around. Burnham have been under new management since the beginning of November, not that it seems to have done much good so far. But, just as all good things must come to an end, so must all bad things I suppose, and we will have to be on top our own game, to prevent Burnham leaving with their first win since 11 October. I can't say that any previous games against the Blues stand out for footballing reasons. Our last meeting, on 23 February 2002, ended in a 1-0 win at The Pilot Field thanks to a first half header from Adam Flanagan, who had also scored, as did Duncan McArthur, in a 2-1 win at The Gore just after Christmas 2001. The most memorable match between us must have been back in the 1999-00 season, in which we pummelled Burnham for the full ninety minutes and finally scored a winner deep into stoppage time. I can't remember who got the goal though, because attention was diverted by a good old punch-up, which led the referee to issue five red cards, three to Burnham players and one each to Terry White and Steve Smith. Don't know about you but I'd be happy just to settle for the 1-0 win this year myself. Sean Adams
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