Last Update: 29th September 2002
Midweek Roundup ('Allo Princess)Not much happening at the Pilot Field this midweek, but there has been one sensational rumour abounding elsewhere in the local vicinity. The only piece of news about United this week concerns the postponement of the home game against Newport IOW, scheduled for 11 October, which has been caused by the Islander's continued involvement in the FA Cup. After the disappointment of being without a game last weekend, for similar reasons, the club has remedied the situation by persuading Eastlegh to bring forward our away game with them, which had been due to take place the following Wednesday, 15 October. This should be good news for any die-hard travelling fans, who may have struggled to make it to such a midweek game. I might even be able to make it myself now. Anyone who can't, may be pleased to learn that the Reserves have also taken advantage of the situation and have arranged a home league game against Ashford Town that day. We'll be positively spoilt for choice now! As I reported at the weekend, Newport and Histon were the only Eastern Division sides to have won their FA Cup games on Saturday, taking their places in Monday's third qualifying round draw. Also in the draw, were Folkestone, Salisbury, King's Lynn and our local rivals Eastbourne, all of whom faced midweek replays, the results of which were as follows: Folkestone Invicta 3 - 0 Hitchin TownKing's Lynn 1 - 4 Worksop Town Chelmsford City 0 - 2 Eastbourne Borough Westbury United 1 - 2 Salisbury City And the draw for the next round has produced the following ties, amongst others: Folkestone Invicta v Welling UnitedHiston v Newmarket Town Canvey Island v Dover Athletic Ford United v Worthing Maidstone United v Bishop's Stortford Braintree Town v Eastbourne Borough Crawley Town v Croydon Athletic Basingstoke Town v Bracknell Town Havant & Waterlooville v Salisbury City Newport IOW v Harrow Borough There has also been a bit of local action over the last couple of days, including a big game between Rye & Iden and St Leonards in the first round of the Hastings Senior Cup. I don't know how anyone can possibly criticise the Sussex Senior Cup, or the DM League Cup, as long as this one exists. On the pitch, St Leonards sadly put an end to their poor recent form, winning 2-0, with second half goals from Sean Ray and Ben Watson, although Ray's night was spoilt by a late red card. St Leonards will take on Sidley in the semi-final, while we are set to take on Westfield, at some stage. Unfortunately, the Millennium Stadium is already fully booked up with a series of Aled Jones concerts, so the final will take place at the Pilot Field as usual. Sidley won 1-0 at Southwick in the County League on Tuesday to move up to twelfth in the table, which also sees Rye fifth and St Leonards eighth. Our first opponents in the Sussex Senior Cup are now known. We will be at home to, wait for it, Eastbourne United Association, 2-1 winners at home to Lancing on Tuesday, in the second round, with the tie due to be played by 15 November. The winners will be at home again, to either Broadbridge Heath or East Preston and, barring disaster, we should be at home to Brighton in the quarter finals, early next year. Whilst I'm on the subject of cups, it was a shame, although not a surprise, to see that Rye were expelled from the FA Vase after fielding an ineligible player in their preliminary round win at Hailsham. More of those super, intransigent rules that Simon used to enjoy so much. Why a simple replay wouldn't have been appropriate punishment, I'll never understand. And what of that sensational rumour? Well, a message was left on St Leonards' website forum on Monday, alleging that they were going to be ceasing operations after last night's game. The entire forum was then suddenly removed from public view, although the rumour was doing the rounds at the game itself, amongst a healthy 190 attendance. Now, I haven't got a clue whether there is even a shred of truth to the story and, frankly, I would miss not being able to take the mick every time they lose. The withdrawal of the forum could have been something to do with those rape allegations, made against several players from that unnamed Premiership club. So, perhaps it's not all that sensational after all. In fact, you probably already know about it anyway. So, with the weekend fast approaching, it's FA Trophy time again. Ryman League Division One North side Yeading will be making, what I assume to be, their maiden trip to the Pilot Field, for Saturday's preliminary round clash. I must confess to not having known where Yeading is and having found out, I would not be desperately keen to go there for a midweek replay, so here's hoping for a positive result on Saturday. Yeading were top of their league going into last weekend's fixture at Cheshunt, who promptly replaced them at the top after a 2-1 victory. Yeading returned to winning ways on Tuesday though, with a 6-1 thrashing of mid-table Hemel Hempstead, but remain in second place, with twenty-one points from ten matches. However, their cup exploits this season rank even below our own. They were beaten 7-0 at Histon in the preliminary round of the FA Cup, probably just one of those freak results though, and I would be perfectly happy to settle for a 1-0 on Saturday. The winners will be away to either Dulwich Hamlet, who are currently seventh in the Ryman League Division One South, or Cheshunt, who I have already mentioned. The Trophy has very seldom provided Hastings supporters with much to cheer. I am just old enough to remember the great run to the fourth round in 1981-82 (I think that's right). The home replay win over Malcolm Allison's Yeovil side will remain a vivid memory for many years to come, in particular, Ernie Batten's winner. Through work last year, I met Dave Crush, who had scored our equaliser at Yeovil in the first game and spent a couple of hours discussing those happy days of my youth. Before I start getting letters, I know that that was a different United team, but the present incarnation has consistently failed to live up to those standards, with only a couple of trips to the first round, of which to boast. The 1991-92 game at Dover was quite memorable, I'll accept. Top flight referee David Elleray sending off Tony Burt in the first half, the resultant penalty being saved, Steve Willard's rather late equaliser. Shame the replay defeat brought us all back down to earth. Apart from a snow bound exit at home to Salisbury, one Friday evening in the mid 1990s, that's really it I'm afraid. Last year, we skipped the preliminary round, beat Chelmsford 1-0, before losing 2-0 at home to Eastbourne. I guess we will start as underdogs on Saturday, so maybe that will help. As usual, the report, along with any other news, which I deem to be interesting, will appear some time on Sunday. Sean Adams
BIZARRE!Att: 209 ElsewherePlenty of other preliminary round ties were played on Saturday and the ties featuring our DME rivals finished as follows: Arlesey Town 3 v 1 Fleet TownAveley 1 v 2 Burgess Hill Town Bashley 2 v 2 Marlow Burnham 1 v 2 Stamford Corinthian Casuals 0 v 2 King's Lynn Eastleigh 3 v 0 Great Wakering Rovers Fisher Athletic 1 v 1 Horsham Oxford City 1 v 4 Folkestone Invicta Salisbury City 0 v 1 Clevedon Town Taunton Town 3 v 1 Corby Town Team Bath 2 v 0 Banbury United Tooting & Mitcham United 1 v 2 Sittingbourne Windsor & Eton 2 v 1 Chatham Town Wivenhoe Town 3 v 1 Newport IOW Not much to say about those. Hard to point to any surprise results as everyone is, more or less, at the same level. Folkestone's was perhaps the performance of the day, continuing their impressive cup form. Surprisingly, none of their goals came courtesy of leading scorer Allan Tait though, who was deposed as the DME's leading scorer on Saturday by Erith & Belvedere's, Akpo Sodje. He grabbed the equaliser in the draw at Histon, which means that we are now just one point off the bottom of the table and Tonbridge are five points clear at the top. Just the three games in all, the results of which were as follows: Ashford Town 0 v 0 Rothwell TownHiston 1 v 1 Erith & Belvedere Tonbridge Angels 1 v 0 Dartford There was more good news for our reserves, who made it seven out of seven on Saturday, with a 2-0 victory away to Ramsgate. Scott Hayhoe and Danny Ellis were the scorers who took Hastings two points clear of Dover at the top of the table and they still have one game in hand. Dover were involved in Kent Intermediate Cup action on Saturday and put eight goals past Folkestone, who managed three in reply. That just seems to put our lads win over them last week into greater perspective. A fantastic effort. Let's hope they can keep it up at home to Ashford next weekend. Locally, I'm getting a bit concerned that St Leonards have lost the script I gave them to learn. After winning at Rye & Iden on Tuesday and then refusing to go out of business in the week, they won 5-2 at Sidlesham in the County League on Saturday. They trailed early on, then led 2-1, before conceding an equaliser with just seven minutes left. Sean Ray then completed a hattrick and David Flemming and Josy Ricketts also scored to lift them up to fourth in the table. Their website thanks all the loyal supporters who travelled to cheer the team to victory. I wonder how many there were in the massive attendance of thirty-three! Rye & Iden slipped to seventh after losing to a first half goal at Three Bridges. Sidley were 4-1 winners at Shoreham in the second round of the RUR cup and Westfield lost 3-0 at Chichester in the same competition. And so, another largely unsuccessful weekend draws to a close, with the winless run now at eight. A week to recharge the batteries before a first ever trip to Eastleigh. I am still in negotiation with 'er indoors over that one, so a volunteer to provide a match report may well be required. Watch this space. Now, I'm off to start revising for the Supporters' Club quiz on 29 October! Sean Adams
Midweek RoundupOnce again, it seems like a pretty quiet midweek at the Pilot Field. The only piece of news, of which I have been made aware, is that we have filled the gap in the fixture list on Saturday 1 November, with a rearranged home league game against Newport IOW. You will recall that the game was originally due to take place this weekend, but had to be put back, as Newport are still involved in the FA Cup. The 1 November date, is earmarked for the first round of the FA Trophy, although Newport, like ourselves, have already been eliminated. On the same day, the Reserves will now be away to Hooe Sports in the second round of the Hastings Intermediate Cup. It has been a quiet midweek all round, with none of the other local sides in action either. There were a couple of FA Trophy replays involving DME sides, Fisher Athletic pulling off something of a surprise, winning 3-1 at Horsham, but not so Bashley, who lost by the same score at Marlow. The first round draw was made before the season began, with many either/or situations, all of which have now been resolved. Our last minute defeat to Yeading cost us a trip to Dulwich Hamlet and the chance to avenge a 2-1 FA Cup defeat about ten years ago. Other ties of potentially vague interest include the following: Burgess Hill Town v SittingbourneDartford v Ashford Town (Middlesex) Eastbourne Borough v Welling United Erith & Belvedere v Eastleigh Folkestone Invicta v Hemel Hempstead Town Grays Athletic v Fisher Athletic Heybridge Swifts v Histon King's Lynn v Thame United Kingstonian v Stamford Lewes v Northwood Rothwell Town v Gloucester City Tonbridge Angels v Marlow Uxbridge v Bognor Regis Town Whyteleafe v Ashford Town Worthing v Cambridge City Right then, on to the coming weekend. The first team are off to Eastleigh, for what I must assume will be the first ever meeting between the two clubs, certainly in a league fixture. Eastleigh have made a perfectly decent start to their first Dr Marten's League campaign and go into the match in fifth place, with sixteen points from eight matches, just the twelve points better off than us then, although we do have a crucial game in hand. On paper, we probably represent their easiest game so far, although they did beat Corby 4-1 at home, going one goal better than we managed. They also managed a 2-1 win at Folkestone, but were well beaten 4-1 at Bashley, so it is tricky to draw any exacting conclusions from results against the same sides that we have faced. They average two goals a game in the league so far and I believe that their front line is led by Nicky Banger, who has plenty of experience in the Football League, including a lengthy spell at Southampton in the 1990s. Eastleigh were last season's Wessex League champions and were able to boast Matt Le Tissier amongst their ranks for a time, although he has now officially retired. There are one or two other ex-professionals on their books though, plus a handful of players who will have seen an awful lot more Dr Martens League football than some of our lads. I fear that we will be in for another tough afternoon. I am glad to say that, after much deliberation, I will be able to get to the game myself, so the usual full report will be on this site some time on Sunday. I can only speculate as to the likely starting line-up, having been unable to get any word on Mark Lovell's injury. I assume that the side, and formation, that finished the Yeading game must be favourite to start though. Anyone who isn't planning a trip to Hampshire, don't forge that the reserves will be in action on Saturday, trying to make it eight wins out of eight at home to Ashford Town. There has been no Go Travel Kent League Division One action this midweek, so our lads still find themselves leading the way and that is where they will stay, whatever happens at the weekend, as there are no other Division One games scheduled until 18 October. Just to finish with a brief word on the weekend's international matches. Although born and brought up in England, I have supported the Irish since I was in my teens. I have little but contempt for the way in which the Rio Ferdinand fiasco has been handled from all angles and it has done professional football no favours whatsoever. It is yet another example of the sort of behaviour that Simon mentioned had caused him to lose interest in the game at all levels. Not that I necessarily hope that England will lose, but I will not be remotely excited if they don't. My attention will be 100% focused on Ireland's match against Switzerland in Basle, where only a win will do. That, and three points at Eastleigh would make for a damn fine weekend in my view. Here's hoping anyway. Sean Adams In the reserves game Ashford went two up in the first quarter of the game giving Hastings a lot of work to do, to get back into it. Another entertaining match played at a fast pace, neither side really convinced in the first half. Hastings played some good passing football but seemed to stutter in the final third. A number of dead ball moves seemed to be wasted. Ringwood, Henham and Elford were the pick of the bunch for United. Hastings started the second half in a more determined fashion, and were better than Ashford for the majority of the half. Jimmy Elford powerfully heading home Hastings' only goal in a move started off by Myall's long cross field pass. Myall again showed good touches throughout the game, playing more forward than his usual position. He was unlucky not to score a deserved equaliser with a well placed header, beating the keeper only for a superb headed clearence off the line by an Ashford defender. KH
THE ONLY WAY IS UPHoney 5, Sherwood 73(p) Att: 195
Other bitsAs I mentioned at the top of this lengthy diatribe, other results didn't exactly all go our way on Saturday and we now find ourselves in twenty-second and last place, albeit with a game or two in hand on those immediately above us. The scores were as follows. Ashford Town 0 v 2 Fisher AthleticBanbury United 3 v 1 Sittingbourne Bashley 1 v 0 Burgess Hill Town Dartford 0 v 1 Corby Town Erith & Belvedere 2 v 1 Chatham Town King's Lynn 1 v 2 Burnham Rothwell Town 0 v 1 Fleet Town Tonbridge Angels 3 v 0 Stamford Our tally of four points, which we have had since our third game, is now one worse than Chatham, who kindly provided Erith & Belvedere with their first win of the season. We go to Erith on 21 October, by which time we will have played the all of the current bottom seven teams, including Rothwell, to whom we are at home next Saturday. Surely if Fleet can beat them..! At the top, Tonbridge are now eight points clear of Histon, who were in FA Cup action and nine clear of King's Lynn, Eastleigh and Ashford. In the FA Cup and Saturday's third qualifying round ties, results of interest were as follows. Basingstoke Town 0 v 0 Bracknell TownBraintree Town 0 v 4 Eastbourne Borough Canvey Island 4 v 3 Dover Athletic Crawley Town 6 v 1 Croydon Athletic Folkestone Invicta 1 v 1 Welling United Ford United 3 v 2 Worthing Havant & Waterlooville 3 v 4 Salisbury City Histon 0 v 0 Newmarket Town Maidstone United 1 v 1 Bishop's Stortford Newport IOW 2 v 2 Harrow Borough Pride of place must go to Salisbury, who are the only DME side definitely through to the final qualifying round, thanks to a late winner at Havant & Waterlooville, from the DMP. The other three DME sides all drew. Folkestone were pegged back by an equaliser from ex-Hastings player, Simon Beard. Newport IOW came from two down to earn a draw with Harrow from the Ryman Premier. But Histon were frustrated by Ridgeons Eastern Counties League opposition in Newmarket. Elsewhere, Dover threw away a three goal lead in the last thirty-five minutes at Canvey Island. No ex-Hastings players scored as Eastbourne won comfortably at Braintree and our conquerors, Bracknell, are still going, after a goalless draw at Basingstoke. Unfortunately, the reserves finally came unstuck, after a magnificent run of seven wins out of seven, losing 2-1 at home to Ashford Town reserves. With Steve Lovell having to 'borrow' Scott Hayhoe and Charlie Belcher, the line-up must have been rather weaker than that which played and beat Dover a couple of weeks ago. That said, I understand that they maybe deserved to get something from the game, although at least the pressure of the 100% record will be gone now. They remain two points clear of Dover at the top of the Go Travel Kent League Division One, with eight games each played. The reserves will be in action at the Pilot Field on Tuesday evening, when they take on Burgess Hill Town reserves in the first round of the Sussex Intermediate Cup, presumably with a stronger line-up than they were able to field against Ashford. St Leonards did their best to cheer me up, losing to a fifth minute goal at Chichester, in their top of the table County League clash. Rye & Iden United beat second division side, Crawley Down, 4-1, in the first round of the Sussex Senior Cup and will next be at home to Pagham. By the way, in the same competition, Arundel beat Pease Pottage (yes them of the 18-0 defeat at Westfield and the 10-1 to St Leonards) 15-1 with a certain Miles Scerri scoring ten of them! Another team doing worse than Wolves, and worse than us too, then. Sidley United led 1-0 until the eighty-eighth minute of their John O'Hara League Cup third round tie at home to Sidlesham, but eventually lost 4-3 after extra time. And Westfield drew 2-2 at home to Steyning in the second round of the division two Challenge Cup, the challenge being to find another spurious sponsor perhaps. All in all, Saturday proved to be a pretty depressing day for me, football-wise. As if our lads taking another battering wasn't bad enough, to have it followed by Ireland's tame exit from the European Championship qualifiers and England's deserved success, was very nearly more than I could take in one five hour spell. At least the Irish rugby team had a good win, although their efforts are bound to be eclipsed by England against Georgia. I'm comforted to think that Simon must be enjoying himself though. As long as someone is. Sean Adams
Match reports/news for summer, august and september are now archived. KH
This week's midweek round-up begins with news of the reserve team's Sussex Intermediate Cup first round tie at home to Burgess Hill Town on Tuesday evening, and more bad news it is too. A game, which our lads were firmly expected to win, ended in a 1-0 defeat and an extremely rare early exit from a competition, in which we usually fare pretty well. The only goal of the game came late on, courtesy of an own goal by defender Joe Heasmer. To be fair, it arrived much against the run of play, but Hastings simply failed to make anything of a host of good chances. Now why does that sound strangely familiar? Not that it matters a jot, but Burgess Hill will be away to Legal & General (Hove) in the second round. I don't intend to follow their progress you understand, although I might keep an eye on Rye & Iden United reserves and Bexhill United, purely from a local interest perspective, both having won their first round ties on Saturday. The fixture merry-go-round continues apace, with the news that we have lost another home league game, because of someone else's Cup success. The match against Salisbury City, which was scheduled for 25 October, has had be postponed and, at this stage, there is no alternative fixture in place. No doubt Tony Cosens will be working hard to put that right. Our Sussex Senior Cup second round tie at home to Eastbourne United Association has been arranged for Tuesday 11 November. I wonder if there will be a temptation to bring that one forward to 25 October, if a replacement league fixture cannot be arranged. The big Hastings Senior Cup semi-final at home to Westfield is to take place on 25 November. Book your tickets early for that one. Last, but not least, the reserves' league game at Deal Town this coming Saturday has had to be postponed, as Deal's first team need their ground for an FA Vase first round tie. At least Steve Lovell should be able to name a full quota of substitutes for the Rothwell Town match, assuming that the reserves are unable to arrange another fixture that is. This midweek was due to see a full Eastern Division programme of fixtures, although one or two things conspired against that idea. Indeed, we should have been off to Eastleigh on Wednesday, only for the game to be brought forward to last Saturday, of course. Three of the four Eastern Division sides still involved in the FA Cup drew their third qualifying round ties on Saturday and were left facing replays on Tuesday. More on those in a bit, first of all though, the league results, which do not include Wednesday's Corby v Banbury game, as I am typing this on Tuesday. The only significant change is at the top, where Tonbridge are now eleven points clear of Histon and King's Lynn, who have three and two games in hand respectively. Burnham 0 v 1 BashleyChatham Town 0 v 1 Tonbridge Angels Fleet Town 1 v 5 Salisbury City Rothwell Town 1 v 1 King's Lynn Sittingbourne 1 v 3 Dartford And these were the results from the FA Cup, or the ones, which I perceived to be of most interest. By all accounts, Folkestone were a little unlucky to go out, having been largely the better side at Welling, although Newport were comfortably beaten at Harrow. That leaves Histon and Salisbury City as the only Eastern Division sides through. Bishop's Stortford 3 v 2 Maidstone UnitedBracknell Town 1 v 0 Basingstoke Town Harrow Borough 2 v 0 Newport IOW Newmarket Town 0 v 1 Histon Welling United 2 v 2 Folkestone Invicta (Welling United won 5-3 on penalties) The draw for the FA Cup fourth qualifying round was made on Monday and one tie will stand out as far as local supporters are concerned, with Eastbourne Borough due to take on our first round conquerors from last season, Stevenage Borough, at Priory Lane. The tie is scheduled for 25 October and if we are unable to arrange a replacement for the Salisbury fixture that day, I dare say that I may well be a neutral observer at that one. It will represent a chance for Simmo, George and Yatesie to gain some personal revenge for our defeat at Broadhall Way last season. And to think that if our lads had managed to battle through as well, a visit from mighty Barnet would have awaited us. Oh well. The draw in full follows. Accrington Stanley v Leigh RMIAshton United v Grantham Town Bishop's Stortford v Gloucester City Blyth Spartans v Chester City Boreham Wood v Kettering Town Bracknell Town v Barnet Bromsgrove Rovers v Warrington Town or Whitby Town Burton Albion v Buxton Cambridge City v Ford United Cirencester Town v Crawley Town Dunston Federation Brewery v Lancaster City Eastbourne Borough v Stevenage Borough East Thurrock United v Woking Exeter City v Gravesend & Northfleet Farsley Celtic v Gainsborough Trinity Forest Green Rovers v Aldershot Town Grays Athletic v Margate Harrow Borough v Hereford United Hornchurch v Paulton Rovers Leyton v Histon Mangotsfield United v Canvey Island Morecambe v Shrewsbury Town Newcastle Town or Ossett Albion v Stalybridge Celtic Northwich Victoria v Halifax Town Runcorn FC Halton v Bradford Park Avenue Salisbury City v Lymington & New Milton Scarborough v Hinckley United Shildon v Stocksbridge Park Steels Telford United v Tamworth Thame United v Farnborough Town Thurrock v Dagenham & Redbridge Welling United v Weston-super-Mare Saturday sees the first team back in action at the Pilot Field, when Rothwell Town take on the long trek down from Northamptonshire for an Eastern Division fixture. Rothwell are not exactly having a blinding time of it at the moment and find themselves in sixteenth position after Tuesday's draw with King's Lynn, which followed a 1-0 home defeat to Fleet Town while we were being hammered at Eastleigh last Saturday. That said, we are hardly setting the league on fire ourselves, but this game surely represents a really big chance to get a much needed win under our belts. Rothwell's problem seems to be scoring goals and they have only managed five in ten league games thus far, so maybe a first clean sheet is on the cards as well. It is undoubtedly too early in the week to speculate on the potential line-up, although I would imagine that Tony Burt will have shaken off his flu virus by then, to bring some experience back to the defensive line. We could do with Mark Lovell fit again and I would love to see him partnering Chris Honey up front, as Graham Webb continues to frustrate the hell out of all of us. There must be a temptation to finally bring Stuart Myall back into the first team squad and Jimmy Elford could be in contention after his scoring return for the reserves at the weekend, especially as Ricky Spiller's form seems to have dipped recently. As I am unlikely to be able to provide a further update this week, I guess we'll just have to wait until Saturday to find out. Sean Adams
I told you that Tony Cosens would be working hard to fill that sudden gap in our fixture list on 25 October. Less than twenty-four had elapsed before it was confirmed that Ashford Town have stepped in at late notice and they will make the short trip to the Pilot Field, as Salisbury City will be unable to do so. The announcement had me scratching my head for a while, as Ashford were meant to be away to Erith & Belvedere that day, and I couldn't understand why that one would have been postponed. After a bit of research, it transpires that Welling United, at whose Park View Road ground Erith & Belvedere play of course, have a home FA Cup tie on 25 October, which naturally takes precedence over a mere Dr Martens League Eastern Division encounter. Ashford were due to visit us on 18 November for a Tuesday evening gam, but I am sure that playing on a Saturday will add a few to the attendance at least. I have long been awaiting news of Duncan McArthur's fate after his sending off in only his second game for Rye & Iden United, having also been dismissed in our second game of the season at Folkestone. There had been a suggestion that Rye & Iden were planning to appeal against his red card against Oakwood, but I am reliably informed that they decided not to after all and the Sussex FA handed him a five week suspension, which began on 12 October. To be fair to Duncan, it should be noted that since he received that red card and missed a couple of weeks through 'illness', he hasn't picked up a single caution apparently, so maybe the guy is turning over a new leaf. Whether he is or not, he'll have the next five weeks to think about it. On the subject of former players, it was confirmed this week that Ellis Remy has signed for Grays Athletic of the Ryman League Premier Division until the end of the season, having been released from his six month contract with Third Division Lincoln City. Ellis had spent a brief spell on loan at Kettering Town, for whom he played just twice, scoring once against Grays. He won't have to get used to a part-time existence again though, as Grays are, as far as I am aware, the only non-league team outside the Conference, to operate on a full-time basis, a clear signal of their progressive intentions. I hope that their's isn't a five year plan though, because they always seem to end in tears! There was one match in the Eastern Division last night (15th Oct), Banbury United winning 2-0 away to Corby Town, which moved them up to seventh and left Corby seventeenth, one place below Rothwell Town, our next opponents. The next report, with news of Saturday's action, will be on the site some time on Sunday. Sean Adams
SUPERSWEET!Att: 237
Other ResultsGenerally, Saturday's other results went our way. Sittingbourne and Burgess Hill were the only other sides in the bottom ten to win. The Brickies surprisingly picked up three points at home to Eastleigh and our Sussex rivals helped to send Fleet below us in the table. Chatham picked up their first home point of the season and it was enough to keep them off the bottom, a position which Erith will be occupying when we kick off at Park View Road. At the top, Tonbridge retain their eleven point lead over Histon and King's Lynn. Bashley 2 v 0 Fisher AthleticBurgess Hill Town 3 v 0 Fleet Town Burnham 0 v 2 Histon Chatham Town 2 v 2 Stamford Corby Town 0 v 4 Folkestone Invicta Dartford 0 v 3 Salisbury City King's Lynn 1 v 0 Ashford Town Newport IOW 3 v 1 Erith & Belvedere Sittingbourne 1 v 0 Eastleigh Tonbridge Angels 3 v 0 Banbury United In the Premier Division, Eastbourne Borough continued their good form, winning 1-0 away to Chippenham Town, with a Scott Ramsay header two minutes from time. That was good enough to take them up to fifth place, just two points behind leaders Nuneaton Borough. A word of caution for our neighbours as well though. Around this time last year, we got a 0-0 draw at Chippenham and promptly set out on our worst run of results in living memory and we all know where it led, don't we. I have absolutely no axe to grind with Garry Wilson's team and I really hope that a similar fate does not befall them. Besides which, it would be nice to see a few of our ex-players involved in a bit of success, as the current crop look set for a long and hard season. Local interest in the FA Vase came to an abrupt halt at the first round stage, as injury hit St Leonards were beaten 2-0 away to Wessex League Thatcham Town. I'm sorry, that very nearly sounded like sympathy. We'll have none of that thanks! My fellow anoraks will be pleased to learn that Sussex will be represented in the second round draw by Whitehawk, Littlehampton and Three Bridges, but not by Hailsham Town, the team reprieved by Rye & Iden's expulsion from the competition, who lost 4-0 at home to Gosport Borough. In the County League, Rye & Iden came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw at Arundel, Dean Chamberlain scoring the first half equaliser. The result saw them drop down to tenth place in the table, although they are only four points below second place and let's not forget that they have played only two home league games out of twelve! Sidley United dropped into the bottom six after losing to a first half penalty at East Preston, although they are only four points worse off than Rye & Iden. In Division Two, Westfield were thumped 5-1 away by Midhurst & Easebourne, and slip a place to fifth. Remarkably, those were the first away goals that Westfield had conceded in the league this season, Duncan Jones netting their ninetieth minute consolation on a bad day at the office. Next up for Hastings then, Tuesday evening's visit to south-east London to play Erith & Belvedere at Welling United's Park View Road ground. Hastings supporters should have many fond memories of games against Erith & Belvedere, a side who have only beaten us once, I believe, in twenty-odd meetings. I remember gladly a 2-2 draw when Erith were still playing at their former home, which sealed our promotion to the Premier Division first time around back in 1992. More recently, the curious 5-1 win three years ago was rather fun, all the goals coming in the second half, after we had gone a goal down. And two years ago, we twice beat Erith 3-2, Landry scoring a late, late winner at the Pilot Field and producing a sublime thirty yard chip that put us 2-0 up in the return match. Erith came back to level in the second half, before Monster's second of the night won it for us, with Erith missing a penalty. The culprit, Darren Adams, is still leading their line, I believe, and he has been joined this season by Akpo Sodje, who I think was with Margate last year. Sodje is the league's joint leading scorer with eight thus far, so I should think that our defence will be in for a testing time, although Erith have now conceded more goals even than us, twenty-four, after their 3-1 defeat on the Isle of Wight on Saturday. Whatever the history, it is a good chance for our lads to quickly build on the victory over Rothwell. Not sure whether I will be able to get there or not. Even though I had it down as a definite, family business may have to take precedence. Hence, the midweek report will either be short and sweet, or lengthy as usual, depending on how things work out. Don't forget next Wednesday's (29th) Supporters' Club quiz 7:30 at the clubhouse, a focal point on the calendar. I hope that the prize is a good one, although it's the taking part that counts, of course! Sean Adams
STEADYAtt: 120
Other ResultsThe point did slightly more for Erith than it did for us. Well, it lifted them off the bottom of the table at least, where they were replaced by Chatham, after a mauliing by Folkestone, for whom Jim Dryden grabbed a hattrick. We stay nineteenth, but are now one win away from overhauling Rothwell, Corby and Fisher. At the top, Tonbridge maintained an eleven point lead over King's Lynn as both won. Histon won 1-0 at Rothwell in the League Cup and now have four games in hand on the leaders. The midweek results in full were as follows. Fisher Athletic 1 v 4 SittingbourneAshford Town 0 v 2 Tonbridge Angels Banbury United 0 v 3 King's Lynn Dartford 2 v 1 Burgess Hill Town Erith & Belvedere 1 v 1 Hastings United Fleet Town 1 v 1 Newport IOW Folkestone Invicta 5 v 1 Chatham Town Salisbury City 1 v 1 Burnham Stamford 0 v 0 Corby Town Eastleigh 3 v 1 Bashley Sorry to be the bearer bad news for a change, but Crawley went top of the Premier Division on Tuesday after a 5-2 win at Cambridge. Defender Kevin Hemsley, who was linked with a move to Eastbourne a month or so back, scored an unlikely hattrick. Borough were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Welling, Scott Ramsay again on target, and although they remain just two points off the lead, they have slipped a place to sixth. It is interesting (to me anyway) to note, that only fourteen points separate Crawley and bottom club Chelmsford, so things are obviously quite competitive in the Premier this year. In the Eastern, thirty-one points separate Tonbridge and Chatham, a considerably wider gulf in class perhaps. Locally, there was just the one match on Tuesday. Sidley lost 3-1 at home to Eastbourne Town in the County League. As a result, Sidley fail to move out of the bottom six, although like Rye & Iden, they have played the vast majority of their matches away from home thus far, and will be confident of climbing the Division One table, I'm sure. Eastbourne moved back into second place, a couple of points behind the leaders, Chichester. Three Bridges won their FA Vase replay to earn a second round home tie against former winners Diss. Littlehampton are at home to Great Yarmouth, Whitehawk at home to Burnham Ramblers and Arundel at home to Concord Rangers. And one thing that I failed to mention at the weekend, our reserves lost their league leadership. After suffering a first league defeat at home to Ashford the previous week, they were without a game on Saturday and were replaced at the top by Corinthian, level on points and goal difference, but Corinthian have scored two goals more. Interestingly (there I go again), Corinthian's only dropped points so far came in a 6-1 defeat at the Pilot Field on 6 September. Ashford did our lads a favour by beating Dover 2-1 and both of those two are two points behind, having played a game more. This coming Saturday sees Ashford's first team visit the Pilot Field for a rearranged league fixture, our original opponents, Salisbury City, being involved in FA Cup fourth qualifying round action at home to Lymington & New Milton of the Wessex League. Ashford's 2-0 home defeat to the leader's Tonbridge has left them in seventh in the table with nineteen points from twelve games. They were as high as fourth recently, but a return of one point and no goals in their last four matches has pegged them back a bit. Their decent start owed much to a flurry of goals from our old mate, Paul Jones, who had scored eight in seven matches before suffering a broken foot in an FA Cup tie with Bromley. By contrast, Lee McRobert has managed just the one, by the way. They appear to have a reputation for being tough to break down though, so dare I suggest that this one may have 0-0 written all over it. Ashford have been one of the better supported sides in the league thus far and are sure to bring a few with them. Let's hope to see a few more home fans there as well, as the lads seem to be enjoying some better form just now. Probably not though, eh? One final word. Last night will be the last away game that I will get to for quite a while. Yes, I know I say every other week, that I'm not sure about whether I'll make it or not and then I always manage it, but I will definitely not be going to Fleet, King's Lynn, Corby or Rothwell in November as fatherhood looms for a second time. I have the trip to Fisher Athletic on 13 December pencilled in very faintly, but we'll have to wait and see. On the understanding that Karl may not be planning to make these trips either, a volunteer will be sought to give some comments and reaction to those games. You have been warned. Sean Adams
THE MOMENTUM GROWSAtt: 302
ElsewhereThere is bucket loads of other action to bring you up to date with, starting with Saturday's Dr Martens Eastern Division programme. We now have some breathing space, as well as games in hand, over the bottom two, as we find ourselves seventeenth with eleven points, five clear of Chatham and four clear of Erith. Tonbridge are now a massive fourteen points ahead of King's Lynn after winning the battle of the top two. Tonbridge have gained forty points out of a possible forty-two, but hopefully, will have been pegged back a bit by the time we entertain them on New Year's Day. Eastleigh are up to third, with Histon dropping to fourth, although they, and Folkestone in sixth, have as many as five games in hand on the leaders. These were all of Saturday's results Banbury United 3 v 1 Chatham TownBurnham 1 v 2 Burgess Hill Town Hastings United 2 v 0 Ashford Town Fisher Athletic 2 v 0 Corby Town Fleet Town 0 v 0 Dartford Newport IOW 1 v 2 Sittingbourne Rothwell Town 0 v 1 Eastleigh Stamford 1 v 0 Bashley Tonbridge Angels 2 v 0 King's Lynn It was also a big day for non league football, with the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup, followed by the draw for the first round proper. Happy memories of twelve months ago eh? The main focus of local attention was Priory Lane, where Eastbourne Borough surrendered a two goal first half lead, given them by a brace from Scott Ramsay, and were forced to settle for a replay at Stevenage Borough, our conquerors last year, of course. At least Simmo and Co will have a chance for some proper revenge at Broadhall Way on Tuesday. Both Eastern Division representatives, Histon and Salisbury City, won through to the first round. Histon have made it for the first time in their history apparently. Our conquerors from this year, Bracknell Town, finally bowed out at home to Conference high flyers Barnet. The major upset of the day saw Ryman League Thurrock, previously known as Purfleet, knock out Dagenham & Redbridge, not averse to the odd giant killing themselves in recent seasons. Shildon, from the Albany Northern League Division One, would appear to be the most junior side to get through, their league would rank one below our own, the equivalent of, say, the Sussex County League. And should we spare a thought for Kettering Town at another final qualifying round exit? Probably not, but at least they avoided embarrassing themselves like they did last year. Here are all of Saturday's FA Cup results. Accrington Stanley 2 v 0 Leigh RMIAshton United 1 v 2 Grantham Town Bishop's Stortford 2 v 0 Gloucester City Blyth Spartans 0 v 1 Chester City Boreham Wood 1 v 0 Kettering Town Bracknell Town 0 v 3 Barnet Bromsgrove Rovers 2 v 2 Whitby Town Burton Albion 6 v 0 Buxton Cambridge City 2 v 3 Ford United Cirencester Town 2 v 4 Crawley Town Dunston Federation Brewery 0 v 1 Lancaster City Eastbourne Borough 2 v 2 Stevenage Borough East Thurrock United 1 v 1 Woking Exeter City 0 v 0 Gravesend & Northfleet Farsley Celtic 1 v 1 Gainsborough Trinity Forest Green Rovers 1 v 3 Aldershot Town Grays Athletic 3 v 3 Margate Harrow Borough 1 v 6 Hereford United Hornchurch 1 v 0 Paulton Rovers Leyton 1 v 2 Histon Morecambe 2 v 4 Shrewsbury Town Ossett Albion 0 v 1 Stalybridge Celtic Runcorn FC Halton 0 v 1 Bradford Park Avenue Salisbury City 5 v 1 Lymington & New Milton Scarborough 3 v 0 Hinckley United Shildon 6 v 0 Stocksbridge Park Steels Telford United 3 v 3 Tamworth Thame United 1 v 2 Farnborough Town Thurrock 2 v 1 Dagenham & Redbridge Welling United 2 v 3 Weston-super-Mare So, the first round draw itself. Eastbourne will have a decent reward should they overcome Stevenage in that replay, being drawn at home to struggling Stockport. Salisbury have a fantastic trip to Hillsborough to look forward to, a rather better draw than Histon's. Little Shildon are off to Meadow Lane and Thurrock are well rewarded with a home draw against Luton. There are six all non league ties, including Crawley's trip to Telford or Tamworth, both of whom are in the Conference. Here are all of the ties featuring non league sides. Brighton are away to Lincoln City by the way. Accrington Stanley v Huddersfield TownBarnet v Stalybridge Celtic Blackpool v Boreham Wood Bradford Park Avenue v Bristol City Brentford v Farsley Celtic or Gainsborough Trinity Chester City v Exeter City or Gravesend & Northfleet Eastbourne Borough or Stevenage Borough v Stockport County East Thurrock United or Woking v Histon Farnborough Town v Weston-super-Mare Grantham Town v Leyton Orient Grays Athletic or Margate v Aldershot Town Hartlepool United v Bromsgrove Rovers or Whitby Town Hornchurch v Darlington Kidderminster Harriers v Northwich Victoria or Halifax Town Lancaster City v Cambridge United Mansfield Town v Bishop's Stortford Notts County v Shildon Peterborough United v Hereford United Port Vale v Ford United Scarborough v Doncaster Rovers Scunthorpe United v Shrewsbury Town Sheffield Wednesday v Salisbury City Southend United v Mangotsfield United or Canvey Island Telford United or Tamworth v Crawley Town Thurrock v Luton Town Torquay United v Burton Albion Turning to matters of rather less national importance now. Pride of place locally, apart from ourselves that is, goes to Rye & Iden United, who ran out 8-1 winners over Shoreham in the third round of the John O'Hara League Challenge Cup. Scott Price and Peter Baker both helping themselves to hattricks. In the County League, St Leonards were well beaten 3-0 at Arundel, leaving them ninth in the table, twelve points behind Chichester. The matches due to involve Sidley United and Westfield were postponed, with the reason given simply being "player's deaths". I am sorry to leave this rather devastating bombshell without developing the story at all, but I have been completely unable to find out any more details to date. News like that only ever serves to put all other matters into perspective, of course and I am sorry that the lack of information does not allow me to handle the issue more sensitively. Looking ahead to Tuesday, we are due to play Folkestone Invicta at the Pilot Field in the first round of the Dr Martens League Cup. It represents a chance to avenge our 2-0 defeat at Folkestone in the second league game of the season and a chance for Folkestone to avenge a 5-0 thumping that they suffered at our hands in the League Cup a couple of years ago. This is not a competition, which has evoked a great deal of interest amongst the fans in recent seasons, despite the fact that we have been finalists twice in the last eight years. I gather that Steve Lovell is to use the game as an opportunity to give some of the fringe players a game, along with new signing, Simon Stickney (I hope that I've spelt that right). Simon is a defender, previously with Eastbourne Borough apparently. Some of the reserves could probably do with a run out, having been without a game for a couple of weeks now. Their league title hopes were assisted on Saturday, as Corinthian only drew and Dover lost again. They are now a point behind Corinthian with a game in hand and two points ahead of Dover, with two games in hand, but still have both to play away from home. That's it for now then. The next update will follow Tuesday's game, which I intend to go and see, even if no-one else does. And I will finish with one final reminder about the quiz being organised by Robin Powell and the Supporters' Club, which is on Wednesday evening in the club house, starting at 7.30 pm. Go on, you know you want to. Sean Adams
OUT OF STEAMAtt: 190
More ResultsIn case anyone gives a damn, here are all of Monday and Tuesday night's Dr Martens Cup first round results. No Premier Division clubs are involved at this stage, so there are no massive upsets, on which to comment, although in the finest interests of concentrating on the league, runaway Eastern Division leaders, Tonbridge, will presumably be less than gutted at their home defeat to Fisher. Interesting to note also that the bottom three sides in the Eastern Division all won. Strange that. There are three more ties due to be played on Wednesday and a further two next week. Histon won 1-0 at Rothwell last week. Team Bath 2 v 3 Cirencester TownBanbury United 1 v 1 King's Lynn (a.e.t. King's Lynn won 3-2 on penalties) Bashley 1 v 2 Fleet Town Erith & Belvedere 3 v 1 Ashford Town Gloucester City 1 v 4 Solihull Borough Gresley Rovers 2 v 1 Shepshed Dynamo Hastings United 2 v 6 Folkestone Invicta Mangotsfield United 1 v 2 Cinderford Town Rugby United 2 v 1 Ilkeston Town Sittingbourne 1 v 2 Chatham Town Stamford 2 v 1 Corby Town (a.e.t.) Stourport Swifts 1 v 1 Redditch United (a.e.t. Stourport Swifts won 4-2 on penalties) Sutton Coldfield Town 3 v 2 Evesham United Tonbridge Angels 0 v 3 Fisher Athletic Yate Town 0 v 3 Clevedon Town Eastbourne Borough sadly bowed out of the FA Cup at the fourth qualifying round stage in Tuesday's replay, losing to a second half goal at Stevenage Borough. No revenge for our old boys then. At least that kills any temptation to trundle over to Priory Lane for the first round on 8 November. Ashford's Homelands ground saw it's first 'home' goals for a couple of weeks as Margate and Grays produced a repeat of Saturday's first match, as Margate again fought back from 3-1 down in the closing stages, this time in extra time, only to be denied on penalties. Ellis Remy did not feature in the Grays line-up, before you ask. More penalty drama at Stonebridge Road, where Gravesend emerged victorious after a thriller against former Football League side, Exeter. Last season's Dr Martens League champions Tamworth were beaten by a 120th minute penalty at home to Telford, having equalised with a 119th minute penalty of their own. Tuesday's replay results follow as well as how the results affect the first round draw. Gainsborough Trinity 3 v 0 Farsley CelticGainsborough Trinity away to Brentford Gravesend & Northfleet 3 v 3 Exeter City (a.e.t. Gravesend won 6-5 on penalties) Gravesend & Northfleet away to Chester City Margate 3 v 3 Grays Athletic (a.e.t. Grays Athletic won 3-1 on penalties) Grays Athletic at home to Aldershot Town Stevenage Borough 1 v 0 Eastbourne Borough Stevenage Borough at home to Stockport County Tamworth 2 v 3 Telford United (a.e.t.) Telford United at home to Crawley Town Woking 2 v 0 East Thurrock United Woking at home to Histon This coming Saturday sees Newport make the journey from the Isle of Wight to the Pilot Field for what appears to be the only Eastern Division game of the day, the majority of our league rivals being involved in the first round of the FA Trophy. Our fortunes in the last two or three years have matched the Islanders to a large degree. We succeeded Newport as Eastern Division champions in 2001/02, both of us followed it up with immediate relegation the following season, lost the majority of our senior playing squads in the wake of a cash crisis, hit rock bottom of the Eastern Division in the early weeks of our first season back and now (let's hope) have both turned the corner. Newport visit us from ninth position after a 2-1 home defeat to improving Sittingbourne last weekend, but they have a few games in hand, as a result of a decent FA Cup run, which included a victory over Premier Division Tiverton Town in the second qualifying round. It will be a stern test of our credentials, I am sure and Newport have a pretty decent record over us in recent years. Never a better time to turn that particular corner. Let's hope to see a few more through the gate as well, after the lads continued their good run at the weekend. As long as people can put Tuesday's result in context, that is. Not something that we're terribly good at, if the views of a certain correspondent in last Friday's Hastings Observer are anything to go by. Surely they're not truly representative of supporters generally, are they? Sean Adams
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