Archive
Dr Martens League Eastern Division 2003-04
1/5/04 Hastings United (1) 1 Histon (1) 4
Att: 321
Elsewhere
The warmest congratulations are due to King's Lynn though, who sealed the Eastern Division title with that 2-0 win at Fisher. For once, I have a reason to be smug, having tipped them as champions after their 2-0 win at The Pilot Field in February. Tonbridge scored in the first and last minute in winning 2-1 at Corby to finish third. Eastleigh's 1-0 victory against Rothwell saw them end their first season at this level in fourth place. Folkestone's first win in nine, 3-0 at home to Newport, earnt them fifth, while Salisbury's 1-1 draw at home to Chatham, their sixth game without a win, left them in sixth place. Stamford's 1-0 win at home to Burgess Hill sealed seventh place by four points ahead of Banbury, who lost 2-1 at Erith & Belvedere, but still finished eighth. Burgess Hill finished as the best of the rest in ninth. Sittingbourne's 1-0 win at Bashley gave them tenth, with Bashley just above halfway in eleventh. Ashford were on their own in twelfth. Chatham just edged Fisher for thirteenth. Likewise, Corby pipped Dartford for fourteenth, a point clear of Burnham in sixteenth. We finished seventeenth, our lowest league position in my living memory, above Newport, Rothwell and the bottom two, Erith & Belvedere and Fleet, who look as if they might be spared relegation to County League level after all. Just to confirm, here are all the results from the final day of the season.
Bashley 0 v 1 SittingbourneCorby Town 1 v 2 Tonbridge Angels
Dartford 2 v 1 Burnham
Eastleigh 1 v 0 Rothwell Town
Erith & Belvedere 2 v 1 Banbury United
Fisher Athletic 0 v 2 King's Lynn
Fleet Town 1 v 1 Ashford Town
Folkestone Invicta 3 v 0 Newport IoW
Hastings United 1 v 4 Histon
Salisbury City 1 v 1 Chatham Town
Stamford 1 v 0 Burgess Hill Town
There was plenty to play for in the Premier Division on Saturday, with several Conference North and South places still up for grabs, along with the five play-off places. As it happened, the midweek matches had seen Welling, Weston-super-Mare and Havant & Waterlooville join the list of qualifiers, which left only three automatic places to fill. In the end, Cambridge, Eastbourne and Moor Green took those places, Borough courtesy of a 1-1 draw at Newport County thanks to an equalising goal from our former loanee Mark Goodwin. Eastbourne finished their campaign in eleventh position and with a two point cushion over Merthyr, who head the play-off race and will be joined by Tiverton, Bath, Dorchester and Chelmsford. The latter squeezed in on the last day at the expense of Dover, who were consigned to Premier Division mediocrity along with FA Trophy finalists Hednesford, Chippenham and Grantham.
Redditch United were crowned Western Division champions on Saturday and they will now play-off at King's Lynn in the first round of matches, which will ultimately provide the two final Conference North and South qualifiers. This match takes place on Bank Holiday Monday and the winner will visit Merthyr next Saturday to play-off for a place in the new Conference set-up. Also on Monday, Chelmsford go to Tiverton and Dorchester to Bath, with the two winners meeting next Saturday for the other place.
At least we already know for definite in which league we will be competing next season, as Mark Gardiner's wish comes true, about five years, an unsuccessfully withdrawn resignation, a promotion and a technical relegation too late. We are off to join the Ryman League Division One and, according to Tony Cosens' programme notes on Saturday, we are going to be lining up against AFC Wimbledon, Ashford Town, Banstead Athletic, Bashley, Bromley, Burgess Hill Town, Chatham Town, Corinthian Casuals, Croydon, Croydon Athletic, Dorking, Epsom & Ewell, Fleet Town, Horsham, Leatherhead, Metropolitan Police, Newport IoW, Sittingbourne, Tooting & Mitcham United, Whyteleafe and Winchester City. At least fourteen names on that list will be new as far as league competition is concerned, and I don't remember playing any matches at all against about ten of them. It should be an interesting year and represent a chance to attend a good number of away games. The Isle of Wight will still be an awkward one though, but we'll see. There will possibly be one or two amendments to that list after the play-offs, which I will keep my eye on next week.
Congratulations to Chichester City United, who were crowned champions of Sussex County League Division One on Saturday after a 3-0 home win over Sidley, the cup champions of Hastings of course. Rye & Iden needed a huge favour from their local rivals to stand any sort of chance of winning the title themselves, but they also needed to win their final game, which they failed to do, losing 2-1 at Pagham, despite Simon Fox giving them the lead. Chichester finished six points clear in the end, with East Preston behind Rye & Iden on goal difference after winning 3-2 at Hailsham. Three Bridges were just one point further back in fourth after a 4-0 win at home to Southwick. Sidley finished in sixteenth place, four places, but twenty-seven points, off the bottom. In Division Two, Westfield finished in ninth place after losing 2-1 at Steyning. And in Division Three, Bexhill United finished third from bottom.
Our Reserves are continuing to cling onto fourth place in the Kent League Division One table, but their position was made to look a little more tenuous by Herne Bay on Saturday. After winning 2-1 at Ashford, Herne Bay moved to within three points of our lads and they still have two matches left and a superior goal difference. One of their matches is at home to the champions Corinthian, the other away to struggling Danson Furness, so it looks likely that we will have to settle for fifth place in the end, despite that seven match winning streak at the start of the season.
Apart from the usual plethora of local cup finals, The Pilot Field can now look forward to a much needed post-season rest. It is fair to say that the playing surface has not been at it's best this season, following the debacle with the new drainage system installed a year ago. Apparently, the plan is to flood the surface with sand and to reseed it in about ten days time, after which it will idly while away a couple of months, before pre-season training begins again just after Latvia have won the European Championship. Then we'll have the friendly games, including visits from Gillingham and Brighton I believe, with the new season getting underway on 14 August.
One date for the diary rather sooner than that is Friday, 21 May, when the Supporters' Club are running another quiz night. This was to have taken place this coming Friday, although it had to be put back to avoid clashing with one of those local cup finals. Kick off is at 7.30 in the clubhouse, with Mick James as quizmaster and, if we're really lucky, Robin Powell as his glamorous assistant once again. I can speak from experience when I say that a good night is guaranteed, so get your teams together and help to raise some funds for the club.
I will end the season with a few thankyous if you don't mind. First, to Karl for taking the time to keep adding my lengthy diatribes to the site and to Simon, for allowing me the opportunity to step in to his shoes in the first place. Cheers also to Tom Newman for allowing me to share his PA box, a very fine and warm vantage point, and to Tony Cosens, who has been a great help in providing various items of news throughout the season. And thanks to all of you who have taken the trouble to read this nonsense each week, especially those of you who have posted complimentary comments on the guestbook. It really does make it all worthwhile you know. Apart from reporting on those play-offs and the small handful of outstanding cup finals, I suppose that I ought to put together some sort of end of season review, honouring the finest traditions of the old Ghost fanzine, with marks out of ten for all of those who have worn the claret and blue this year. Given that there were forty-three of them, please bear with me, it could take some time.
Sean Adams