As feared after the Banbury game, no Tony Kessell in goal - but Shwan Jalal who might only still be 18 or so - is no mug between the sticks - and didn't he prove it when, with the game well into stoppage time and the scores level in a quite magnificent match, Stuart Playford conceded a penalty only for Shwan to tip the resulting spot kick over for a corner.

Yeah - magnificent is an appropriate word and this game was non league at it's very best and surely proved you don't have to pay £25-£35 to see a decent game of football. Sadly, the locals showed their usual lack of interest and the gate of 433 was a huge disappointment. But - on the plus side - we found our voices again and gave the lads some real vocal backing.

Town started off well and dominated the opening 15 minutes - but as has been the case on quite a few occasions, failed to turn their initial superiority into goals. Yatesie had an effort smothered after just 3 minutes, and on 9 minutes, the City keeper had to race out to clear with Yatesie (who had a better game after some below par displays) bearing down on him. Three corners were then forced in succession as the City goal was put under real pressure and soon afterwards, the keeper was out of his box again to head clear with Paul Jones challenging.

It was a real disappointment to go a goal down on 17 minutes - Tony Burt failed to cut out a long ball and Shwan was lobbed from just inside the area. Shwan had to be alert minutes later when he rushed out to save at the feet of a Chelmsford striker as City began to dominate and look like a side that's been top virtually all season. A comedy of errors in the Town box on 35 minutes nearly gifted City another goal - a back pass going astray and the ball having to be booted clear with the defence at panic stations.

As has been the case many times - the half time "chat" provided dividends and on 57 minutes it was all square when Jonesie - yet again belying his slight appearance - held off three defenders inside the box and fired inside the post to equalise. A big cheer from a well patronised covered end greeted that (It had been raining so quite few were in there) - and it got even louder minutes later. Yatesie burst into the box - his effort was deflected into the side netting and from the resulting corner - the ball broke clear to Stuart Myall who's first time effort flew into the far corner to put Town 2-1 up.

Tommy O - who had a fine game in defence - nearly extended the lead when he fired into the side netting, Macca tried his luck from outside the box but his effort spun well wide - but all the time, City looked dangerous every time they went over half way and it was easy to see how Rothwell had got such a pasting on Saturday. 74 minutes - and it became 2-2 when a fortunate deflection fell nicely inside the Town box and it was put away inside Shwan's far post. Simmo nearly restored Town's lead 5 minutes later when his shot from a tight angle was pushed onto a post and out for a corner by the keeper.

The referee got up home supporters' noses all evening. Not once did he tell City to get on with it when they were blatantly wasting time - but in the 15 minutes or so Town were ahead - he told our guys to speed things up. Most of the contentious decisions seemed to go City's way - on at least 4 occasions players went down seemingly fatally injured - only to recover miraculously and carry on as if nothing had happened. But - that penalty - well, he got that right - and so did Shwan with what still might be a crucial save.

What a game, though. City deserve to go up - they are one of the few sides who can play decent football in this turgid division - as they should be with all the players they've signed. But we gave them a good run for their money tonight and wherever we finish come May 5th, our boys can hold their heads high after this one.

SS

Top six after tonight's results:-

                          Pl  W  D  L  F   A  Pts   GD
 1 Chelmsford City   .  . 31 20  7  4  70  34  67  +36
 2 Grantham Town  .  .  . 32 19  8  5  71  39  65  +32
 3 Newport IoW .  .  .  . 30 19  7  4  67  26  64  +41
 4 Baldock Town   .  .  . 32 18  9  5  71  34  63  +37
 5 Hastings Town  .  .  . 31 16 10  5  57  33  58  +24
 6 Stamford .  .  .  .  . 32 16  8  8  54  43  56  +11

Sorry about mixing up the first goal scorer, on the pre-match report! Err - emotionally draining game... KH

Town's first defeat in 17 games, their heaviest for yonks and a massive blow to promotion aspirations that were tenuous prior to this game - and now hang by a thread with us ever more dependent on other sides doing us favours. George was seen and heard expressing concerns about the state of the pitch prior to the game - and his worst fears were realised.

Conditions were appalling at The South Kesteven Stadium and the pitch, frankly, looked no more suitable for play than did The Pilot Field when Grantham made their abortive trip last week. But referee Turner - after two pitch inspections - decided the game would go ahead. And to be fair - those conditions were the same for both sides - so it would be all about who adapted better.

The score does not lie, 5-0 very rarely does. Shwan was in goal again - Kess still struggling with his hip injury. Shwan can't be blamed for any of the goals - indeed - nobody could. It was just one of those days where everything went tits up. Grantham put the Town goal under early pressure and Shwan pulled off a superb double save after just 3 minutes - but from the corner that resulted, Grantham took the lead. Town were just never in the game in a horrendous opening quarter and I actually made a point of noting that the Grantham keeper didn't touch the ball till 16 minutes had passed - Town were under that much pressure. The defence had real trouble coping with Grantham's lively forwards and the pitch just added to their problems.

After that opening spell, Town came back into the game and started to play some decent football on what was an ever more awful surface. Simmo hit a weak effort at the keeper on 21 minutes - Town's first shot of any kind. Then Town should really have been on terms when having been well set up by Paul Jones, Stuart Myall took far too long making up his mind when to have a go (he was just outside the 6 yard box) and the ball was eventually whipped away. That should've been 1-1. Shortly afterwards - Stuart Playford set Simmo free down the left but once Danny had broken into the area, he put his pass behind Jonesie and the opportunity was lost.

All over just before half time. Mat conceded a corner - it was half cleared and a well struck effort through a forest of legs flew past Shwan. And a minute or so later, Town were 0-3 down when Grantham's leading scorer Gary Bull was released down the middle to fire past Shwan.

Controversy on 67 minutes. Shwan left exposed by a defence caught out by the treacherous pitch - a back pass simply stopped dead - clearly handled outside the area. We all expected a red card to appear - but the ref decided to show him a yellow. This infuriated some of the home supporters - but they were soon happy again when from the resulting free kick, Grantham went 4-0 up. George used all three subs late in the game and Terry tested the Grantham keeper a couple of times with long range efforts - but Town's noses were well and truly rubbed in it when they conceded a fifth in the last minute after a goal mouth scramble.

A thoroughly depressing day - we lost badly, it was a long way home, the 175 mile trip back was extended to 215 miles by a wrong turn out of Birchanger Services which saw us heading back the way we'd come with the first slip road off the M11 being 20 miles away, I had conjunctivitis for which my young un suggested helpfully I should take eardrops when I got home - and he missed the first part of Star Trek.

Grantham come to us on April 24th - I hope our boys won't need any lifting for that one.

SS

Town bounced back - or more accurately - lurched back after the trauma of South Kesteven on Saturday with this hard fought win over a Dartford side that - once again - were a pain in our proverbial. In the three previous encounters against Dartford since Town came into this division in August last year, they've played badly each time - picking up a single point from the three games. So - it was good to win this for two reasons..........

It all started off so well with Town reproducing some of the fine football we saw in that classic encounter with Chelmsford last Tuesday night. Town were by far the better side for the opening half hour - but all they had to show for it was Simmo's spot kick - awarded after a trip on Jonesie in the 25th minute.

Up till then, the Dartford goal had led a charmed life with ricochets, rebounds and shots just going wide with Tommy O being particularly unlucky after combining well with Duncan and Danny - a half time score of 3-0 or 4-0 would have summed up the game nicely. The pitch was heavy after more rain on the Sunday night - and the lads really needed that after their ploughing debacle at Grantham just over 48 hours previously - add to that Dartford having had an enforced day off due to their game at Langney having been postponed on Saturday - and it can't have been a surprise to anybody that our lads started to look tired as the second half wore on while Dartford looked pretty lively.

That second half was - frankly - a non event as Town tried to protect their slender lead while Dartford gradually awoke to the realisation that the game might be there for the taking. Shwan came to the rescue in the 62nd minute with a block at the foot of the post - and on 70 minutes, when Town failed to clear a free kick, a resulting shot flew just over the bar. Having gone close again 5 minutes later - Dartford equalised with a scrappy goal on 78 minutes - a corner not being dealt with and the ball being stabbed home amongst a goal mouth melee. Nobody was really surprised - and we sat back resigning ourselves to another indifferent result against Dartford - that would also, surely, knobble our promotion prospects good'n proper.

We couldn't understand why George didn't bring on the subs earlier. Mylie had been replaced by Phil Rhodes with a half hour or so to go - but that was it till the 85th minute when Terry came on for Simmo. A minute or so later - Shwan pulled off a great save from a point blank header - and a crucial save it proved to be. With the game into injury time, Burtie won a free kick by the corner flag, Terry's free kick flew across the goal - was headed back by Burtie and with the keeper having ended up on the deck the wrong side of the ball, there was Jonesie to knock it in for the easiest goal he'll ever get.

Town held out for three points that, A:- meant we put one over Micky Crowe at last and, B:- kept us in the promotion race - just. Plenty of other games this week - Tonbridge are playing Chelmsford and Baldock, Dartford can do us a favour at home to Grantham on Wednesday - and wouldn't it be good if Ashford surprised everyone and beat Newport on Wednesday!

SS

Ashford have really gone through it lately - all kinds of back room problems that have seen them lose virtually all their team plus manager. One of the few that's stayed is ex Town, Paul Hobbs. Ashford are now having to field virtually a County League/Reserve side and it showed this afternoon as Town completely dominated.

A Stuart Myall cross was somehow saved by the keeper who caught it between his knees - that was in the 2nd minute, and soon after, one of Mylie's long throws caused all kinds of problems before it was booted away. A Macca cross had a similar effect shortly after - all this before 10 minutes had been played. Town should've had a penalty on 17 minutes - as blatant a hand ball as you'll ever see when Mylie broke clear - to rub salt in the wound, the assistant indicated a free kick to Ashford.

The goal had to come - and it did on 28 minutes when Paul Ruddy hooked in Mylie's cross amongst a crowd of players. Town hadn't been playing particularly well - but it was no more than they deserved. 2-0 right on half time when Tony Burt went up for a Simmo free kick, took advantage of being unmarked, and headed Town's second.

It was all one way traffic in the second half - Ashford just didn't get a look in. Paul Jones never came out after the break which is a worry given the important games that lie ahead. Chris Honey replaced him and looked in good nick straight away. He got the third in 74 minutes - without seeming to really mean it. A Simmo corner came over - Chris headed it straight down in front of with no great power - only for the ball to bounce straight over Hobbsie on the Ashford goal line and into the roof of the net! Still - nobody complained - and it's good to see Chris scoring goals at last.

How Town didn't add to their tally - who knows. Several goal mouth scrambles and an unbelievable miss from DJ saw good opportunities to stretch an inferior goal difference (well inferior to the other promotion candidates!) spurned - and then when Rudd's gave the ball away on halfway, Ashford broke away and Shwan's first prospective clean sheet was knocked on the head in the 84th minute.

SS

Yes - like it says - other results did go our way and we're still in there:-

                          Pl  W  D  L  F   A  Pts   GD
 1 Chelmsford City   .  . 35 22  9  4  81  37  75  +44
 2 Grantham Town  .  .  . 36 20 10  6  80  44  70  +36
 3 Newport IoW .  .  .  . 32 20  8  4  71  28  68  +43
 4 Baldock Town   .  .  . 35 19 10  6  75  36  67  +39
 5 Stamford .  .  .  .  . 36 19  9  8  62  46  66  +16
 6 Hastings Town  .  .  . 34 18 10  6  62  40  64  +22

But - there's the little matter of St Leonards at Fort Fun on Easter Monday - and let's hope we play about 100% better there than we did in the same fixture last season.

A vital win for Town which keeps them in the hunt for a promotion space - not that the other results went our way. Only Stamford in the top 6 lost - everyone else won - so we go up to 5th on 67 points thanks to Mylie's 50th second goal.

Yeah - 50 seconds had elapsed - we weren't even half way round before Stuart volleyed in a corner through a crowded area. What was timely about the goal was that we'd just got to halfway and were therefore immediately able to update Andy Thomson with the latest score.

The pitch looked ok from a distance - but a closer inspection revealed furroughs every where and it was very uneven - but at least it wasn't the mudbath Town were stuffed on last season. Town were on top for the opening 15 minutes with Jonesie getting plenty of treatment from the Stains defence - all of which went unpunished by the referee who seemed content to hover around in the centre circle.

Simmo broke down the right on 15 minutes, rounded the keeper who left himself in no man's land but got away with it because nobody was on hand to put away Simmo's cross. Shortly after that, the referee waved play on when his assistant flagged for a foul on Simmo - to the disgust of the Town supporters. A minute or so later - a close shave for Shwan when a quick free kick nearly caught out the Town defence with the resulting shot being deflected out for a corner.

Macca nearly caught out Rob Hall in the Stains goal when he returned a poor clearance - but his lob was wide. Paul Ruddy - probably a little more wound up than usual for this one - fired in a good long range effort that wasn't far away. At the other end - Shwan went for a corner and missed it - luckily a goal bound header was cleared off the line and ex Town favourite, Keith Miles put the clearance over the bar. Simmo was unlucky on 41 minutes when having picked up a long ball from Yatesie, and with his back to the goal and the keeper rushing out, he lobbed the ball back over his head only to see it bounce off the crossbar and out for a goal kick. What a goal that would've been.

The Stains were up for it in the second half and after Mylie's lob had cleared the bar, started to apply pressure to Shwan's goal. 57 minutes gone - a break down the right resulted in a shot flying across the face of the goal, a half clearance was fired back in and deflected out for a corner. Town weathered that spell and might've increased their lead but Simmo couldn't get any direction on his header from a free kick.

It was a pretty even second half - and Town had gone through their most difficult spell. Macca broke well down the middle only to be crowded out by three defenders as he was ready to shoot. The best chance of the lot fell to Tommy O who, finding himself unmarked, saw his well struck effort blocked by the keeper.

No local derby would be complete without fisticuffs - and we had some of that on 80 minutes when everyone looked like they wanted to join in. Couldn't see what started it - but the outcome was a draw - one yellow each. Minor palpitations on 89 minutes when Shwan had to race out to clear - and the referee found about 4 minutes added time (no trainer had been on) before blowing.

Good to win - keeps us in there with a shout (why couldn't Ashford, Banbury, Bashley and Wisbech do us favours this afternoon?) and it's ALWAYS good to see off the Stains. Made up nicely for the debacle there last season.

Newport await us on Thursday - that game could decide our season.

SS

We have to be realistic and accept that this result effectively scuppers any hopes of regaining our Premier division place next season. Seeing the jubilant home supporters enjoying themselves hugely as Newport relentlessly marched into 2nd place merely served to rub salt in a gaping wound.

2 crazy minutes - just like it says. Town had started off pretty well despite the burden of losing a very influential midfield pairing in the forms of Paul Ruddy and Duncan McArthur. The pitch was awful - which was only to be expected given all the problems they've had this season with the weather. Yet - Town were doing ok - Newport didn't look anything special - and the two defences seemed to be cancelling each other out.

Then it all started to go wrong in the 22nd minute when Shwan didn't gather a header cleanly, a ping pong sequence ensued which ended with the ball being buried from close in. But - the linesman was flagging - so we hoped the goal would be rubbed out - only for the referee to over rule him. 24 minutes gone - and we're 0-2 down. Shwan made a hash of gathering a corner and - again - the resulting chance was converted from close in. The Newport supporters behind Shwan's goal gave him a right dose of verbals for that.

Town suddenly found themselves trying to play catch up against by far the best defence in the division - and it has to be said - the home keeper wasn't really tested throughout - apart from having to be sharp to beat Jonesie to a free kick. Town probably played the better football on the night - while Newport seemed content to hoof it up the park all night. Perhaps we should've tried that - but then we're STILL waiting for that beefy striker we all know we've needed since the start of last season. Our lads came unstuck too many times trying to do intricate things on a pitch totally unsuitable for those kind of tactics.

Shwan did ok after his howler - and on 34 minutes pulled off a great tip over save which showed the lot behind him what he's really capable of. He did have problems with corners for a while after his error - but as the game progressed, regained his confidence. Remember - he's 18 - and he's done bloody well for us.

The second half saw Newport dealing pretty comfortably with anything we threw at them. Mylie had a great opportunity on 60 minutes to reduce the arrears - but (unmarked at the far post) he headed a free kick over the bar. Shwan pulled off an amazing block on 74 minutes after Newport broke down the right - but both defences rulled the roost for much of a game that was decided by a controversial goal and an error. Stuart Playford was outstanding - best player on the park.

Can anybody see Chelmsford and Newport not going up?

SS

You can't help but ask yourself that question. Performances half as good as this would've seen Town picking up maximum returns from games with the likes of Corby, Histon, St Leonards and Sittingbourne - games that gleaned a lousy 4 points and are the main reason we'll almost certainly be playing in this poxy division again come August.

And this WAS good. Stamford had picked some great results in recent weeks against Chelmsford (1-0), Grantham (2-2 and 1-0), Baldock (3-2) and Newport (0-0) - and Town ran them ragged - especially in the second half when it was all one way traffic.

The first half was fairly even and both sides played some decent stuff when unbelievably fussy referee Ian Gosling let them. His attempt to play advantage after a foul on Jonesie was laughable - the ball rebounded BACK towards half way when a free kick not far off the edge of the box would've been far better. Simmo put Town 1-0 up on 34 minutes when he lobbed a hopeful one into the box where the Stamford keeper and his defence got in each other's way with the ball ending up back with Simmo who fired home past a defender on the goal line.

Stamford's only decent chance of the half was soon after that when Tom Betteridge (little smeghead who got Bally sent off when playing for Newport last season) rounded Shwan only for Tony Burt to clear off the line. Town were on top from then onwards and the Stamford keeper did well to block Jonesie's effort after Paul had brilliantly beaten two defenders.

The second half was one way traffic. Town were exceptional and Stamford never got a sniff other than a header that was well saved by Shwan diving to his left. His opposite number - Steve Corry - had handling problems resulting in several shouts of "Dodgy keeper" which must've been music to Shwan's ears after his problems at Newport on Thursday night!

Chris Honey had a great second half after an indifferent first 45. His goal bound header from a corner was cleared off the line on 56 minutes - but a minute later he tucked away a rebound after DJ's stinging effort was too much for Corry to hold onto. DJ had come on for Macca who went off with a reccurence of his groin problem - and our Aussie import had a decent game too and thoroughly deserved his goal on 67 minutes when Yatesie's cross from the by line set him up to fire into the roof of the net. No doubt about it - DJ does better on a dry pitch.

Damage limitation was the name of Stamford's game after that. Terry came on for Stuart Playford with about 20 to go - whether that was with a busy week ahead or injury related or not, I don't know. Paul Ruddy played the 90 minutes after missing the Newport game - and played well too. I suspect the Rudds knockers have little to boo him about any more - he's an integral part of our midfield and was badly missed on Thursday.

Hopefully we'll have a full strength side out on Tuesday night when there's the little matter of a 0-5 drubbing at Grantham to be put right. Another performance like this one won't do any harm.

SS

Other results don't go our way - again!

Our chances of going up have been slim at the best of times as we struggle to put right our dodgy home form - and recent results at Grantham and Newport did us no good at all - but while the numbers say it can still be done.....

Chelmsford beat the Stains 2-1, Grantham stuffed Ashford 6-1 and Baldock beat Langney 1-0 - but Newport were held to a 0-0 draw by Histon. Here's the top six as of tonight:-

Chelmsford            38    25    9    4    94-38    +56    84
Grantham              38    22   10    6    87-45    +42    76
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Baldock               38    22   10    6    78-36    +42    76
Newport               35    22    9    4    76-30    +46    75
HTFC                  37    20   10    7    66-42    +24    70
Stamford              38    19    9   10    62-50    +12    66

The Stains are at home to Newport on Sunday - good luck to our neighbours against who I'll not hear a bad word said.......

As depressing as it gets - a nightmare 17 minute period in the first half which saw Town concede 4 goals of which at least 3 were down to bad defending, and saw Town reduced to 10 men when Mat was sent off for a "last man" offence. Our worst home defeat since joining the Southern League - and it could've been worse - Kess redeemed himself with a fine penalty save and Grantham had a goal disallowed for offside. Town were awful in defence in that unbelievable spell in the first 45, lightweight up front, Grantham finished off their chances and it was one of those nights when everything that could go wrong - did.

And yet - it started off pretty well with Town playing some decent football and Simmo was unlucky to have an effort half blocked after 5 minutes. No Jonesie or Macca - so that lack of strength in depth was apparent with two reserves, and Terry who's not fit after a season on the sidelines, on the bench. Kess was back in goal as Shwan is at Southampton on a week's trial.

And Kess was at fault for the first goal - a haunting repetition of Shwan's debacle last week at Newport - when he failed to hold onto a corner and presented - er, just that - a present. Yatesie - another frustrating performance - fired in a long range effort as Town pressed for a leveller - but it got worse on 12 minutes when the defence failed to clear a long throw and the opportunity was duly buried to the delight of the Grantham supporters. 0-3 on 20 minutes when Kess flapped at a cross - and again the chance was buried from close in. Could it get any worse? Yes - Mat sent off on 24 minutes - immediate red card and from the resulting free kick the ball was lobbed back into the box after the free kick was charged down - man unmarked on hand to head Grantham's 4th. Their supporters on cloud 7 - us wanting to be 7 feet under.

The way it managed to all go so badly wrong was summed up by us cheering a yellow card showed to the Grantham 11 for kicking the ball away - there, literally, was sod all else to be cheerful about on a night when - apart from a reasonable second half when Grantham relaxed (but still looked as if they could score more) and the penalty save - everything that could go against us did just that. And for all that - the vocal support for the team was brilliant in the second half.

0-5 on 74 minutes - quick break into the box and the chance well put away inside the far post. Terry had come on by then - and surely confirmed in his 20 odd minutes that he should've been playing this season. Grantham slaughtered us again tonight - to lose 0-5 to the same side twice in 3 weeks is a huge humiliation. They took their chances most of which we presented on a plate - and did to us what Newport did - we didn't cope with a strong, physical opposition which is hard to understand given some of the hard nuts we've got in our line up.

So much for revenge for the mudflats debacle............

SS

After the massive disappointment of Tuesday night, the team actually did bloody well to put together what was an eminently decent performance against a Bashley side that had two second half shots on goal of which one went in and the other bounced off the bar. It was one of those classic smash and grab games - break away, score and spend the rest of the half defending.

No Stuart Playford or Macca. So a reshuffled defence with Paul Ruddy and Simmo playing deeper than usual. It was a surprise there were no goals at half time - and an even bigger surprise there was only the one goal in the whole game. Town played some good football and were the better side for long spells - but had to be alert to Bashley breaking out of defence. Yatesie - a decent game he had too - went so close on 17 minutes - one of those jinking runs finishing off with a shot that cannoned back of the post with nobody on hand to put away the rebound. Mylie had an effort deflected out for a corner after some outstanding work by Jonesie down the right with Kess having to block an effort soon afterwards when Bashley broke quickly.

The chance of the half fell to Mylie on 41 minutes when from the 6 yard box he blasted over after a quick interchange between Jonesie and DJ. But Bashley threatened again two minutes later and Kess pulled off a great point blank save.

Bashley went 1-0 up on 51 minutes a cross from the right fell to an unmarked forward who blasted the chance past Kess. After that it was basically one way traffic as Town pressed forward with Bashley's other effort on goal being that one that flew out off the bar. What a travesty that would have been if it had gone in. Move of the game saw Chris Honey breaking clear with a fine piece of skill and firing in a low hard cross - but so frustrating - it went behind Jonesie. Town applied continuous pressure throughout the second half - rebounds, ricochets galore - the lot - except the goal they deserved. Chance of the half fell to Jonesie in injury time - but the keeper blocked his effort and the rebound was booted away.

One of those nights - but give the lads credit for putting on such a show a matter of 48 hours after the Grantham fiasco.

SS

Well, what difference did this rather unfortunate result make to our season? The answer is - none. Typical end of campaign stuff on a bumpy pitch - but in perfect weather, with the home side really needing the points to avoid finishing in the bottom two.

Town's fragility in numbers was illustrated once again. No Stuart Playford, Mat Ball or Duncan McArthur, Terry played 90 minutes for possibly the first time this season while Chris Honey only lasted till half time. All this with only two subs on the bench.

All square at half time but Town were the better side for much of that 45 minutes. After weathering early Wisbech pressure when only poor finishing saved Town from going behind inside two minutes, we dominated the half with Jonesie, in particular, having a great game. He gave Wisbech defenders the run around all afternoon and one piece of skill with which he slipped two backs was exceptional. He had Town's best efforts of that opening 45 - one effort deflected out for a corner and the other pushed over by the keeper. Town also tried that well worked corner routine and Terry's effort from the edge of the box looked goal bound but a defending boot cleared it.

Terry- incidentally - showed he should have been in the team all season. Big he maybe - unfit he probably is - slow he definitely is - but put him in the centre of the park and just watch those passes sprayed to all corners of the globe. Terry's been a wasted asset on the sidelines this season - especially given our fragile squad. He didn't do a lot in the second half as he tired - but that first 45 said everything that needs to be said about Tel. He should spend the close season getting fit again - and next season he should be out on the park.

Back to the game. Wisbech came right back into it after half time but Kess still didn't have a lot to do with his main problem being a back header from Tommy O that was a tad under hit. But while Wisbech were more in the game - Town still looked dangerous going forward and Duncan Roberts in the Wisbech goal had more to do. A good combo between Jonesie and DJ set up Yatesie who's effort was only just wide - that on 66 minutes. 10 minutes later - Town took the lead when Jonesie rounded a defender and fired in a shot that the keeper got a hand to but couldn't stop going in off a post.

Town looked well capable of holding onto the lead as Wisbech's efforts got more and more desperate with shots and crosses well wide and over. Then - what to us - some way from the incident admittedly - looked a controversial incident - Wisbech attacking down the right and their player appeared to have simply lost the ball - and then crashed to the deck (a la Grantham 6) doing the old favourite - clutching his face in both hands. The linesman fell for what looked like blatant play acting, sure enough, the lead actor recovered miraculously in time to be in place for the free kick which Town didn't clear properly and a fierce volley flew by Kess in the 89th minute. Wisbech were still mentally looking at what an unexpected point did for their survival prospects when in stoppage time, they grabbed all three on offer when a corner was headed home past a static defence after a spell of intensive pressure in and around the Town area.

I've got so cynical with cheating down the years - and that includes our guys who ponce around in this manner - that ANY time I see someone clutching a part of their anatomy* with two hands - I automatically think "Cheat" - and almost invariably, the recovery is 80% in no time once the free kick's been awarded - 100% in no time if a yellow or red card is shown at the alleged assailant as well.

Having whinged and moaned about this old chestnut yet again - er, good luck to Wisbech. They've got a loyal bunch of supporters up there, they lined up to give their guys a big cheer as they went off and in Duncan Roberts they've got a keeper who's good for a laugh (he joined in the hilarity when, having been awarded Wisbech's player of the season gong, he was advised by this correspondent - "Now, you'll have a nightmare second half, Keep") and one of his first moves at the end was to turn to us behind his goal with a genuinely affable clap of hands.

Now then - if this defeat had cost us promotion - would I have written that last paragraph? 3 beatings on the bounce now - but it all seems rather meaningless - because it is. Whether we finish 5th, 6th or 7th - so what? What does matter - is that yet again - we've missed out on a top two finish and we knew that before today. Well done to the lads - and bad luck. Didn't deserve to lose today.

SS

* If that's so big he needs two hands - he would surely earn rather more lying down in the porn industry than on a muddy football pitch........