Archive
Dr Martens League Eastern Division 2003-04
10/9/03
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Yep - that's enough. I struggled through the close season to get that old enthusiasm up and running for the new campaign - it never happened - and even though I decided to see how things shaped up once it all started - I knew I'd lost it. So - as stated on the guestbook - I'm calling it a day and while one should never say never - I can't see myself getting that old drive back again. It's like love - and following a football club is a pretty fanatical version of that emotion - but after 26 years or so ever increasing dedication to the cause - I've had enough. It's just not there any more.
Various reasons - some things that go back a long time - others more recent such as supporting a team who's players' identities I had to constantly ask following the close season exodus and - frankly speaking - shambolic goings on at the club after Mick Maplesden decided to call it a day on the last day of last season.
STAGNATION
So what you've heard it before - but it's valid all the same. Football in this town is being held back by a small number of people with two clubs next door to each other - one doing ok in the Sussex Bumpkinship and the other struggling to restore itself a step higher in the DM Eastern Division. Both clubs have had glamorous visions of their own futures in recent years - both clubs have been associated with three loaded guys who must've put a million in between them - Leon Shepperdson up at Fort Fun and then in more recent years - the lottery winning duo of Gardiner and Maplesden. There was talk up the road when Mark Gardiner joined Leon Shepperdson at STAMCO - as the Stains were then known - of Premiership football in 25 years. And when Gardiner came down to Hastings Town there was his five year plan to get them into the Nationwide League.
Mark Gardiner came to Hastings Town after a bust up at Fort Fun over his suggestion the two clubs merge. And the fact that both clubs are still lurching along with their seperate identities - two and one leagues lower respectively then they were at that time just about sums up football in Hastings. And while all that money has been ploughed into the two clubs who now find themselves lower down the semi pro pyramid instead of at the peak of it - the likes of Eastbourne Borough have overtaken both of them and indeed left them trailing in their wake. There are numerous clubs who must dream of the kind of money that Mark Gardiner and then Mick Maplesden put into Hastings Town/United - what have we got to show for it?
And with Eastbourne having overtaken both Hastings clubs - just watch Burgess Hill do the same. There's no big money going in at either of them as far as I know - certainly nothing like as much has been splashed around Fort Fun and The Pilot Field in recent years. But look what they've achieved. And watch out for Rye & Iden United - doing very nicely in Bumpkinship Division One - weren't Hastings Town three or even four steps higher just a matter of a few years ago?
And while the needless two club scenario keeps bumping along the bottom - our friends at Hastings Council sit back secure in the knowledge that so long as that carries on they have an ideal excuse to do fuck all in terms of renovating The Pilot Field which for all the flash new turnstile blocks, club shop and extended tea bar/clubhouse - was one of the worst stadiums in the Premier Division last season. Only Hinckley's place could be said to be inferior as was pointed out by Phil Glazier on our visit there back in January. Our plunge back into the Eastern Division will at least ensure that the old place won't look quite so bad - but for all that the Pilot Field is still a poor advert for Hastings - and the council should be ashamed of itself.
This is the same council that has no problems subsidising the White Rock Theatre that is run by a private company to the tune of £500,000 a year - that's your money - taxpayers' money. Just think what a one off investment of half that could do for The Pilot Field. All pie in the sky sadly - and you can be sure that if common sense did prevail and the two clubs got their bloody acts together and merged for the sake of semo pro football in Hastings - you can be sure the council would get a committe together to think up fresh excuses to do nothing to a stadium that has limitless potential.
Yes - for the sake of semi pro football. That has to be the only winner if the clubs do merge - none of this tripe about we want our manager to run it - how many places on the board do we get - we want this or we want that. One club - actively promoted by the back page of the Observer by Simon Carey, backed by a resurgent Arrow FM and Southern Counties Radio - a decent stadium - surely that has to better than what we have now? Doesn't it?
AND MORE RECENTLY
Relegation was desperately hard to take. Not that that alone would have stopped me going. It didn't stop me four years ago. But I still can't get my head around a promotion season being put together in 2001/2002 with new players added to the squad on a regular basis and then having regained our Premier status and it's better crowds, better grounds and far higher standard of football - we let a good start to 02/03 go to our heads and never strengthened the squad with the inevitable results. We all knew it was virtually done and dusted when we went to Weymouth last April but that didn't make the blow of relegation any easier to absorb. It was just that so much of it seemed self inflicted. Why bother going for promotion if we weren't equally serious about staying up?
And having gone straight back down to the pits of Eastern Division drossball - United seemed to fall into a black hole on the first day of the close season. Mick Maplesden had announced on the previous day - half time of the Pilot Field game against Stafford Rangers - that he was calling it a day. The players were virtually all free agents the following day - and while rumours were already doing the rounds about a big budget cut - and I can see more of them coming if results carry on as they are (United had lost 0-5 at Bashley the day I wrote this) - there can be little doubt that some very decent United players were soon being tapped up by other clubs while first of all George Wakeling hung around and then a gap of three or four weeks ensued before Steve Lovell was appointed manager. Did we really have to lose so many players?
Steve Lovell's appointment was the only spark of good news as far as I was concerned - and I stick to that opinion now regardless of what letters might be printed in the Observer. Steve will need time to get things up and running - and so far as that letter in the Observer from David Broughton was concerned - Duncan McArthur did nobody any good by getting himself sent off at Folkestone and Steve Lovell's decision was backed by a lot of people I'm sure. Macca's yellow/red card tendencies were hardly indicative of someone imbued with team spirit.
Sadly United will not be able to take advantage of a golden opportunity to bring Premier Division football back to The Pilot Field at the first time of asking. A top seven or eight place is all that is required as the semi pro game restructures at the start of next season - but I just can't see them being up to the challenge and a standard of football marginally better than the Bumpkinship surely awaits next season with United in Ryman Division One South.
Of course there's a lot to be said for the cautious approach - the patient approach as a club takes stock of itself. A lot of clubs will be spending money they haven't got as they try to secure that top seven or eight place next May and while United won't be involved in that scramble they'll hopefully end the season in a better financial state than a lot of their contemporaries. Or at least I hope they will. Support will ebb away from the Pilot Field - indeed you could call me a good example of the sinking ship factor - the whole process of getting things up and running again will be a painful one and the most loyal of you supporters will have those loyalties tested big time.
One of the big plusses of semi pro football is the closeness and rapport with players, managers etc etc. None of the airs and graces you see at higher levels of football. Over the years - what with the fanzine, programme notes and just following the boys all over the country - I, like other supporters, got to know many of the players on first name terms - I got to know Dean White, Terry White, Garry Wilson, Jack Dalton and his son Matt - decent approachable guys the lot of them - but as this season kicked off at home to Corby I hardly knew any of the guys in United shirts and that just didn't help so far as trying to get that wavering enthusiasm fired up again.
The fiasco with that bloody pitch was another nail in the coffin. It doesn't matter what anybody says - that pitch is horrendous and it was inexcusable - dry Summer notwithstanding - that a new season should start with a playing surface in that diabolical condition. No excuse. How could that have been allowed to happen?
The apparent lack of enthusiasm on the club's part for a smaller and much more realistically priced Wood End stand as proposed and costed by the Supporter's Committee is another reason. We have something here that is surely attainable - at £6,000 it's a bloody sight more attainable than the £68,000 (plus VAT) quoted for what the club tried (unsuccessfully) to get a grant for last year from the Football Foundation - getting on for half the money was raised last season - there's a real commitment by the Supporter's Committee to go for it AND to name it in memory of Mike Cole who was one of United's most dedicated supporters. If the club backed these proposals and kept supporters informed in the programme how much had been raised etc etc it would be a step in the right direction - and supporters - cynical after other failed attempts in the past to get cover erected at the Wood End might be inclined to contribute once again.
WHAT NOW?
If anyone wants to take on the fanzine - please do. Issue 35 sits in the depths of my computer - a good 25-30 pages await anybody with the motivation to continue with it. Programme notes - I'm sure the club will be looking for someone to pen their thoughts - please get in touch with Dave Bealey or Toby Cosens on 444635. Somebody who attends home and away games on a regular basis will be needed to put match reports together for the website. If there's nobody out there who can do that - then if someone's prepared to take my camera to games and film proceedings and drop the camera back to my gaff afterwards then I'll continue to do them. And if somebody wants to do the Saturday home game reports for the Non League Paper then there's another vacancy - what's more you get £20 per match (eventually).
The Saturday that United lost at Bashley confirmed that there's no enthusiasm in the tank. I always used to a right grouchy bastard waiting for the result at 5.00 pm - but on Saturday I got round to it at about 6.30 after lying around watching the cricket. I really do hope that that tank can be filled up again - and I have nothing but admiration for you guys who will continue to follow the U's. But my conscience is clear - I think. I've put hours into programme notes, fanzine, webzine and video editing - raised a few quid for the club thanks to you lot digging deep for fanzine and videos etc etc - and this is the end of the road.
Not a chance. I'm not that much of a hypocrite. Having always waxed lyrical in the past about loyal supporters sticking it out through thick and thin I suppose there is a two faced element about what I've just written. But not a chance - like I say - will you see me at Eastbourne or Dover. Going to Priory Lane will merely make the pain of what's happened to United even more intense. When/if I start going to football again - it will be at The Pilot Field - and if it's at a renovated Pilot Field where one team represents Hastings then all the better.
Cheers.
Simon Stoddart
20/9/03 Hastings United (0) 0 Dartford (1) 3
I would just like to introduce Sean Adams who is going to hopefully be a regular contributor to the site, and continue Simon's good work. Thanks go to Sarah of the official site for the pictures, and Phil Donaldson for his continued good work with note writing. KH
SLOWLY GETTING THERE
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Well, my first weekend in the Ghost reporter's hot seat and not exactly the easiest of tasks to begin with. How do I put a positive spin on a three goal home defeat? Not sure that there's an answer to that question and perhaps that's Steve Lovell's job anyway. My job, I've decided, is to report the facts, at least the way I saw them, and if it makes for unpalatable reading, just don't shoot the messenger, that's all I ask. In previous weeks, it has been suggested that the lads were a bit unfortunate to lose the games against Burgess Hill and Bracknell. It would be stretching a point to suggest that the same was true against Dartford, but it was another one of those games, in which we seemed to have bags of possession and territorial advantage, but lacked that old cutting edge or killer instinct in the final third of the pitch. Dartford's opening goal came much against the run of play and the second, just after half-time, knocked the stuffing out of our lads and whilst 0-3 was a slightly flattering final scoreline, it could even have been worse. Another new face in the Hastings line-up, one Mark Green, an eighteen year old defender, who has been signed on loan from Gillingham, where he is an apprentice. Steve's contacts coming in handy again there then. Mark slotted in at left back and had a decent enough game, especially going forward I thought, as Hastings reverted to a 4-4-2 formation, not quite the adventurous 3-4-1-2 suggested in the Observer. In a positional change, Ryan Peters played wide right, with Ricky Spiller in the centre of midfield. I consider Ryan to be our most creative player at the moment, so I'm not sure about sticking him out on the flank, but I'll let it pass for now. As with ourselves, Dartford went through quite a drastic transformation pre-season and among the new faces there this season is Tommy Osborne. Now there's an irony for you. All the time he was at the Pilot Field, Tommy never really managed to cement a regular place in the starting eleven. This year, he would have been first choice on the team sheet every week to play alongside Burtie and what happens? Off he goes and judging by his performance against us, he's settled in very well. Dartford operated a three man strike force in Paul Sykes, Martin Buglione and Dave Hassett, all of whom are proven goalscorers at this level and above. Oh to have one of them on our books. So, what of the game itself? Well, Hastings started pretty well. Just three minutes in, Chris Honey blocked an attempted clearance from Jimmy Simpson in the Dartford goal and was desperately unfortunate to see the ball spin inches wide. The opening forty minutes was largely one way traffic, but Simpson was untroubled, apart from an angled volley by Webby, which went straight at him. Ryan, Webby, Ricky and Monster all saw shots from distance go over the top, but Dartford's only chance should have been buried by Hassett, but his bobbling shot from close in was saved by Matt Brown. Suddenly though, Dartford took the lead when Tommy Martin's snap shot from twenty yards flew past Matt and went in off the post. A fine effort, but where did it come from? Before half-time though, Sykes and Buglione could have added to the score as confidence visibly drained from our lads and just three minutes after the break, neither Burtie nor Carl Rook dealt with a huge clearance by Simpson and Hassett volleyed past Matt from fifteen yards. Ten minutes later, Hassett should have scored again when Matt fumbled a Sykes cross and after Dartford survived one of those wonderful goalmouth scrambles from a Steve Hafner corner, Hassett made up for it with the third on 64 minutes. Ricky lost possession in the Dartford half, Burtie missed a tackle, Sykes fed Hassett, who went round Matt and couldn't miss. Within five minutes, Simpson denied Mark Lovell's curling effort with a stunning save and an unmarked Hafner headed wide from Monster's cross and after that, it was back to the long-range stuff. Matt denied Hassett a hattrick late on and Sykes missed a couple of chances too, before Lovell missed the last opportunity of the game a couple of minutes into stoppage time. Burtie was the only Hastings player booked, for a foul on Sykes, and the attendance was back over 300, thanks to the 25 or so visiting fans though. Positives then. Mmmm. We clearly have the makings of an attractive passing outfit, but we are struggling in two fairly fundamental areas at the moment. Going forward, we look very good to a point, but Mark Lovell is our only likely looking goalscorer and he is stuck in the midfield. Maybe when Mylie and Peter Taylor are back, he'll be able to push forward a bit. Monster had another good game, but he does too much donkey work and is seldom seen to be in the right place at the right time. I've never been a great fan of Webby and can't help but think that there must be better striking options at the club. As a former international striker though, I trust Steve Lovell to know a good one when he sees one, so perhaps I'll concentrate on the defence. We seem to go through games looking entirely solid, only for a sudden aberration to spoil things. Once we concede one, we invariably concede another and it's now eighteen in seven games. A big problem, highlighted by Dartford's second goal and others against Folkestone, Burgess Hill and Bracknell, is our inability to defend simple long balls, misjudging the flight of the ball and missing headers. Should be bread and butter stuff really, but whether it's Burtie's age, Carl's inexperience or something else, I know not. A remedy is badly needed and if that needs to be a different combination at the back, so be it. I'd be loathe to leave our Burtie because of his leadership qualities, but I wonder if he has gotten so used to playing as part of a back three, he is found wanting as one of two. Perhaps at his age, he is sweeper material, perhaps Mylie can slot in back there, Keiren Startup did a decent job at the start of the season, as has Dave Henham in the last couple of games. Answers on a postcard please. |
DMLE results
- Ashford Town 1 v 1 Chatham Town
- Eastleigh 4 v 1 Corby Town
- Erith & Belvedere 1 v 3 Bashley
- Fisher Athletic 1 v 0 Burnham
- Fleet Town 1 v 1 Banbury United
- Histon 2 v 0 Burgess Hill Town
- Kings Lynn 4 v 0 Newport IOW
- Rothwell Town 0 v 0 Sittingbourne
- Salisbury City 1 v 1 Folkestone Invicta
- Stamford 1 v 3 Tonbridge Angels
These were the other Eastern Division results on Saturday and they have left Histon, Tonbridge and Kings Lynn level on sixteen points at the top with Eastleigh three points behind in fourth place. At our end of the table, of the five sides below us at the start of play, only Fisher won and move above us, leaving us 18th with just the four points. Fleet's draw gave them their first point of the season and took them above Erith on goal difference. Chatham, our next opponents on Tuesday evening, now have two and Corby, three. Just above us, Banbury have five, with Fisher and Sittingbourne on six.
Reserves continue good run
As much as the 1st team have disappointed so far, so the Reserves have been remarkably successful. I say remarkable only because most of last year's Reserve team have been involved with the 1st team this year, of course, which must have meant a search for plenty of new faces to fill the gaps. Last season's boss, Vince Moorton, has stepped up to be Steve Lovell's number two. His replacement, Graham Bishop, only lasted a few weeks before moving to Sheffield for work reasons and the new men in charge are Ken Dullaway and Phil Boswell. All the upheaval hasn't affected results though and the Reserves made it five wins out of five yesterday, winning 2-1 at Cray Wanderers, both goals coming from Adie Olorunda, who was later sent off. Next Saturday, the Reserves entertain Dover Athletic Reserves for an early season top of the table clash. As the 1st team seem likely to be without a game, some of the squad will surely get a run-out, so rather than go to the shops, or stagnate in front of the television, why not go up and have a look? It'll only cost a couple of quid to get in after all and it may be a rare chance to see a home win!
Other local football
Elsewhere locally, the self-styled "best team in the County League" and champions-elect, obviously, lost 2-1 at that mighty footballing outpost, Hassocks Town. The Stains went two down after 65 minutes and only grabbed a 90th consolation from Billy Ray Cyrus. In Division Two, Westfield drew 2-2 at home to Wick, after trailing 0-2 at half time. In the 2nd Qualifying Round of the FA Vase, Rye & Iden United won 1-0 at Hailsham Town with a second half winner from Scott Price. Sidley United led twice but ended up drawing 2-2 at home to Ramsgate after extra time.
I don't know about you, but even a 0-3 home defeat doesn't feel quite so bad, having learnt that St Leonards have lost as well. Let's hope we have something else to cheer by 9.30 on Tuesday.
Sean Adams
More links - dml site and cheap broadband
The southern league have managed to put together a website, which gives up to date stats on league tables, goal scorers etc for the three DM leagues.
Another website maybe of interest to local residents is a project to make broadband accessible to local computer users. Simply it works by a network of broadcasting points (similar to mobile phones) so as it grows in theory you would be able to access broadband from anywhere in town. As it will be wireless you should be able to take your laptop to the beach... You can either help by providing a broadcast point, or by subscribing to the services which will be cheaper (and more flexible) than subscribing to an ADSL line. Read more on their website feeed.
KH
23/9/03 Hastings United (1) 1 Chatham Town (1) 2
SOLDIER ON
Att: 210
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It would be easy to get downhearted. Five defeats on the trot. Six in the last seven games. No win since opening day, 16 August. That must be about half way to matching last season's horrendous run, which took us from the edge of the top six to the edge of relegation zone in the space of a couple of months. It can't possibly be happening again can it? The Chatham game represented a real opportunity to get a much needed win and, let's be honest, they looked as poor as any side we've seen so far. In the end though, it was more of the same. Territorial dominance, a whole load of goal attempts, albeit many from distance, and little or nothing to show for it. All in all, I counted seventeen Hastings goal attempts and six for Chatham. The corner count was fourteen to six, in our favour, and three of Chatham's came in stoppage time as they tried to keep the ball by the corner flag to run down the clock. It was just another one of those games. Oh and by the way, it was damn cold too. Another game, another new face. Paul Sampson, signed from Southend United, took the place of the injured Matt Brown in goal. He is only providing cover in case of injuries though and will not be a regular starter. Just five minutes into his debut, he made one of those errors that keepers make from time to time. A simple back pass, an attempted first-time clearance, a slice off the outside of his foot, straight to the unmarked Danny Stanton, who will struggle to score an easier goal if he plays until he's a pensioner. Of course, with the state of the pitch, he has a ready made excuse, but the embarrassed silence was quite tangible. Hastings came back to level after twelve minutes. Ryan Peters cross from the right evaded strikers and defenders alike and ran through to Mark Green, who thumped in a first-time shot. The Chatham winner arrived ten minutes into the second half, when Tommy Binks curled in a direct free kick from the left-hand corner of the penalty area, giving Sampson no chance. It was a rare moment of quality on a disappointing evening. It had taken all of twenty seconds for Hastings to get their first strike on goal. Mark Lovell's shot from distance was hit straight at the visiting keeper, Gavin Hopper, but it seemed to bode well. A couple of minutes later, Monster headed wide and we were well on top so I suppose Chatham were bound to score. Webby missed a couple of half-chances, before the equaliser, after which Sampson denied Adam Douglas, although with the exception of an Andy Boyle shot, which went in, but was ruled out for offside, it was all Hastings. Burtie missed with a couple of headers, Webby curled a shot just wide, a series of Steve Hafner corners came to nothing. Steve also saw a misdirected cross tipped over by Hopper and had a half-hearted penalty appeal turned down, Monster glanced a header wide and half time arrived with plenty of positive thoughts. The second half was pretty low-key. Webby saw an early chance saved. Chatham had a couple of good penalty appeals waved away, Mark Green getting away with a seemingly blatant handball and Burtie (I think) with a foul on Garry Tilley. Then came the winning goal after which Steve Hafner's and Danny Lombardo traded a couple of efforts apiece. With ten minutes left, Hastings must have known it wouldn't be their night, when Ricky Spiller's header, no more than six yards out, from Webby's cross, was superbly blocked by Hopper and the keeper preserved the points once again in stoppage time, saving smartly from Mitchell Sherwood. The hugely ironic cheer, when the referee got knocked over when he was hit on the back of the head by the ball, probably spoke volumes for the way we were all feeling by the end. Served him right for not watching the flight of the ball anyway. It really is all so terribly frustrating. Five defeats in a row and we arguably deserved to get something from four of them. We can't even blame basic defensive errors for this latest one. Okay, Sampson must accept the blame for the first Chatham goal, although I am convinced that the pitch played a part as well, but the second was just a well taken free kick. Collectively, the defence still isn't inspiring confidence though and we are still lacking fire power up front. We also seem to have a few guys playing in the wrong positions in my opinion, Peters, Lovell, Hafner. Perhaps when Mylie and Peter Taylor are fit again, it will improve the balance of the team, but for now, we'll just have to soldier on. |
DMLE results
- Ashford Town 2-1 Dartford
- Banbury United 1-1 Burnham
- Bashley 0-2 Newport IOW
- Erith & Belvedere 3-4 Fleet Town
- Folkestone Invicta 1-0 Sittingbourne
- Histon 2-0 Fisher Athletic
- King's Lynn 2-0 Corby Town
- Rothwell Town 0-1 Stamford
- Salisbury City 0-4 Eastleigh
- Tonbridge Angels 1-0 Burgess Hill Town
These were the other Eastern Division results on Tuesday night. Chatham's win at the Pilot Field (was that their first ever Simon?) took them above us in the table. Fleet's first win of the season took them above us on goal difference and we are now trailed by only Corby and Erith & Belvedere. I don't remember us ever occupying that low a league position, not counting the County League days. Far off in the distance, the top three remain unchanged after wins for Histon, Tonbridge and King's Lynn. Eastleigh stay three points behind in fourth place after their impressive win.
Local games
Locally, the 2003/4 County League champions are in action on Wednesday at Ringmer, but I will not be updating the site with their result*, even if they do lose again. Rye & Iden were denied by a late equaliser in a 3-3 draw at Hassocks, Peter Baker scoring twice. Sidley were knocked out of the FA Vase by Ramsgate, beaten 3-1 in a second preliminary round replay, Peter Heritage scoring Sidley's late consolation goal. In the first round, Rye & Iden have been drawn at home to Gosport Borough, the current Wessex League leaders and St Leonards are away to Thatcham Town, who are halfway down the same league. Rye & Iden's participation in the next round is in doubt though, after they fielded an ineligible player, Kim Monroe, in their win at Hailsham on Saturday. The FA will meet to discuss whether to eliminate them, to order a replay, or to allow the result to stand, but there must be precedent for the first of those options to be enforced.
Big reserves game
It has been confirmed that the first team have no game on Saturday, as Fleet Town are still involved in the FA Cup and it hasn't been possible to rearrange any other fixture. The next game will be on 4 October, when Ryman League Yeading are at the Pilot Field for an FA Trophy tie. Don't forget that the Reserves are at home to Dover Athletic Reserves on Saturday, that's second against first, with both sides unbeaten thus far. I'm not expecting miracles though, after only 210 could be bothered to turn up to the Chatham game. Like I said, it would be easy to get downhearted.
Sean Adams
*Ringmer 3-2 St Leonards
The DMLE links have now been sorted out.
KH
27/9/03 Hastings Utd Reserves (0) 3 Dover Ath Reserves (1) 2
100%
Scorers unknown 40, 71
Att:
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For the first time since taking over from Simon, I am delighted to be able to begin with some good news. With the first team not in action, the spotlight fell well and truly on the reserves on Saturday and they maintained their magnificent 100% record in the Go Travel Kent League Division One, with a thoroughly well deserved victory over previously unbeaten Dover. The visitors had warmed up for the occasion with a 10-0 win at home to Ramsgate on Wednesday, opening up a four point lead at the top of the table in the process, but our lads have now closed that gap to just one point and have two games in hand. Eight of Hastings' starting line-up had gained first team experience, albeit that five of them had done so only this season. Out of a total of 258 appearances altogether, Mylie accounted for 223, with Russell Eldridge the next most experienced with eleven. On the whole, the team looked every bit as young and raw as this season's first team, although the temptation to give the whole first team a run out was resisted. Dover's side, at least the one printed on the team sheet, contained no names that I was particularly familiar with and appeared to be much the same as that which had destroyed Ramsgate. Hastings had just about the better of the first half, with Steve Graham coming closest to scoring when his near-post flick was brilliantly saved by the visiting keeper. It was Dover who took the lead though, with a close range header from an in-swinging free kick. The equaliser arrived when Charlie Belcher ran onto Mylie's through ball, before chipping over the hesitant keeper. Charlie hobbled off with an ankle injury shortly afterwards and while he was in the treatment room, Mylie put Hastings in front with an outrageous goal from the touchline, not far from the home dugout. Spotting the keeper off his line, he sent a forty yard effort into the top corner. Within three minutes, Dover were level when a shot from outside the box was diverted by a Dover head, wrongfooting Sam Harris-Green. The game was very much up for grabs and it was Hastings who won it, when Mylie headed home from close range after a fine build-up down the right. It is quite clear to me that here we have a bunch of lads, who are every bit as committed to their cause as the first teamers are to theirs. Sam Harris-Green made several important saves throughout the game, although he looks too inexperienced to provide cover for Matt Brown and it is no surprise that we have signed Paul Sansome in that respect. The back four looked solid enough, Steve Sands and Russell Eldridge providing good support down the flanks and Graham Morris, a dependable captain alongside Kieren Startup and his half-time replacement, Adam Warmington. Danny Ellis was a real dynamo in central midfield, the perfect foil for Mylie, who gave the sort of cultured performance I would have expected. Charlie Belcher and Mitchell Sherwood out wide, and Scott Hayhoe up front, were all lively, but for me, the revelation was Steve Graham, a wonderful mixture of pace, height, strength and guile. I am not sure what his best, or preferred, position actually is. His three first team appearances all came in midfield, but on that showing, Monster had better be on his guard. The Go Travel Kent League Division One only features twelve teams, so there are only twenty-two games to play. Sixteen remain for our lads, and with the first team at home every Saturday in October, the reserves are having to settle for road trips next month, to Ramsgate next week and to Deal two weeks later. In between, they will be at home to Burgess Hill in the first round of the Sussex Intermediate Cup, on 14 October. On today's showing, they are well worth a look, a view doubtless shared by most of an impressive gate of 115 or so. Sean Adams |
Eastern Division
Although we were without a game today, there were a handful of games in the Eastern Division, the results being as follows:
- Burnham 1-2 Tonbridge Angels
- Corby Town 1-0 Bashley
- Eastleigh 1-2 Ashford Town
- Fisher Athletic 1-1 Erith & Belvedere
- Chatham Town 0-1 Banbury United
Corby's surprise win lifted them up three places in the table, pushing us down into the bottom two. Only Erith & Belvedere are below us, now two points back. Tonbridge have gone top, three points ahead of Histon and King's Lynn, with Ashford going fourth, a further point back, Lee McRobert scoring their winner at Eastleigh.
FA Cup
Eleven of our league rivals were involved in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup today, their results being:
- Boreham Wood 4-0 Burgess Hill Town
- Bromley 3-0 Dartford
- Hitchin Town 0-0 Folkestone Invicta
- Newmarket Town 3-0 Fleet Town
- Newport IOW 2-1 Tiverton Town
- Rothwell Town 0-1 Bedford Town
- Salisbury City 1-1 Westbury United
- Sittingbourne 1-2 East Thurrock United
- Soham Town Rangers 0-2 Histon
- Stamford 0-3 Kettering Town
- Worksop Town 2-2 King's Lynn
So, Newport IOW were the only Eastern Division giant killers today, with their win against DM Premier Division Tiverton. King's Lynn will be pretty chuffed with their draw at Worksop, who are fifth in the Unibond Premier and Folkestone by theirs at Ryman Premier Hitchin. Salisbury will be much less pleased at being held at home by Westbury, who play in the second tier of the Screwfix Direct Western League, but at least they're in the hat, as are Histon, after a routine win at Ridgeons Eastern Counties Premier Division leaders Soham. Newmarket, from the same league, knocked out Fleet, which is where we should have been today. And Stamford found Kettering a much tougher nut to crack than we did last season. But that was then, of course. Crawley are the only Sussex side definitely through. Eastbourne and Worthing could join them, replay victories permitting. Our conquerors, Bracknell, went through with a 4-2 victory at home to Tilbury in an all-Ryman League clash.
Local Scene
On the local scene, Rye & Iden United maintained their decent early season league form with a 2-1 win at home to Pagham. That took them up to third in the table, four points off the leaders, Chichester. Wait a minute, that can't be right. Surely it must be St Leonards? But no, they're only sixth and were dumped out of the RUR Cup, beaten 3-1 by Southwick at The Firs. I don't know. All that quality and only one win in six! In the first round of the Sussex Senior Cup, there were defeats for both Sidley United and Westfield. Sidley went down 4-0 at East Grinstead and Westfield, 3-0 at Littlehampton. Incidentally, attendances were 65 at The Firs and 80 at The Salts, both bettered by our Reserves. Interesting.
As if you good people haven't had enough to read already, Tony Cosens has kindly given me permission to copy his piece on the restructuring of non-league football, which was in the Chatham programme on Tuesday evening. So, for the benefit of anyone not at that game, or for those who did not purchase a programme, here goes, and please bear in mind, where you see the words 'I' or 'my', it is Tony speaking.
League Restructuring
At the end of the current season, it's all change, as the long awaited restructuring of the non-league game takes place. When you first look at it, it can appear complicated, but it's not really. I will try and explain the changes here as simply as I can.
The current Conference will remain and one thing to bear in mind is that all divisions will consist of twenty-two clubs, not twenty-four as was suggested by some. Two teams will be promoted to Division Three of the Nationwide Football League and two will be relegated back to the Conference. Three clubs will be relegated from the Conference to be replaced by the champion clubs of the Ryman, Unibond and Dr Martens Premier Divisions, as in previous seasons.
The new Conference North and South Divisions will be made up of the three clubs relegated from the existing Conference plus clubs finishing in positions two to thirteen in each of the three Premier Divisions. That gives a total of thirty-nine clubs. The other five places will be decided by play-offs involving Premier Division clubs finishing below the top thirteen but above the relegation positions. The Dr Martens Premier will provide two of the clubs, the Ryman Premier two and the Unibond Premier one. In the Dr Martens Premier, which has twenty-two clubs, the play-offs will involve teams finishing in positions fourteen to eighteen in the Premier Division, plus the winners of a play-off between the champions of the Eastern and Western Divisions. Fourteenth place in the Premier will play the winners of the Eastern/Western play-off, the winners of this going into one of the two new Conference Regional Divisions. The other place will be decided by a play-off semi-final and final involving the teams finishing in the Premier in positions fifteen to eighteen. Fifteenth will play eighteenth and sixteenth will play seventeenth and the winner of the subsequent final will also go into one of the two new Conference Regional Divisions. The Ryman and Unibond Premier Divisions will have similar play-offs, but they will vary slightly as they have twenty-four and twenty-three teams respectively.
At the end of this, the Dr Martens Premier will lose fifteen teams to the new set-up, as will the Ryman Premier, while the Unibond Premier will lose fourteen.
To form the new Premier Division of the Dr Martens League, it will be necessary to take fifteen clubs from the two regional divisions. The clubs to be taken will be the top seven from each regional division, plus the winner of a single match play-off between the clubs finishing in eighth place, the club with the best points average per game over the season having home advantage. Relegation at the end of the season will proceed as usual.
Clubs will be allocated at the end of the season to the league most suited to them geographically. In our case, that would be the Ryman League, who will operate with a Premier Division and Division One, as will the Unibond League. The Dr Martens League will retain two regional divisions, Midlands and Western, as well as a Premier Division. Some of the existing regional leagues, such as the Kent League and the Sussex County League, may merge. Some have a small number of clubs and it may make sense to amalgamate with a view to reducing these leagues to twelve in number, instead of the current eighteen.
Once the new set-up is in place, promotion and relegation will operate as follows. Two up and two down between the Football League and Conference, as at present, the second promoted club to be decided by a series of play-offs. Three clubs will be promoted from Conference North and South and three relegated from the main Conference. The champion club from North and South Divisions will be promoted automatically with the third place decided by a series of play-offs involving clubs finishing in second to fifth positions in each division.
Three clubs will be relegated from each regional division of the Conference, being replaced by two clubs from each of the new Premier Divisions of the Ryman, Unibond and Dr Martens Leagues. Champions will be promoted automatically with a series of play-offs in each league to decide the second promoted club.
Four clubs will be relegated from each of the three new Premier Divisions to the new Division One of each competition. As there will be four such divisions, there will be three promoted from each, the top two going up automatically, with the third club being decided by more play-offs. Two clubs will be relegated from each Division One to be replaced by the champion club from the various regional divisions.
As I've said before, clubs seem to be heavily in favour of the changes, although the management of the Ryman League are still not happy, despite all of their Premier Division clubs applying for the new Conference set-up. A number of clubs will find themselves in different leagues next season, the majority to be affected being in the south-eastern corner, due to the present overlapping of the Ryman and Dr Martens Leagues.
It's bound to take a few years to settle down and it may be necessary for some clubs to be moved from one competition to another at the end of each season, depending on the location of promoted and relegated clubs. In the long run though, it seems to me to make sense and the issue of travelling will largely be overcome. The higher you are in the new structure, the more travelling you will do. Surely, that must be right.
We don't know where we will be yet, but our aim must be for the new Ryman Premier Division. In short, to qualify for the new Conference South, we need to win the Eastern Division this season and then win two play-off matches. For the new Premier Division, we have to aim for a top seven finish, or, if we are eighth, we then have to win a play-off match against the eighth placed team from the Western Division. Finish below eighth and we will be in Division One. So, whatever happens, next season we will be seeing a lot of new teams. Interesting times indeed. The end.
Tony Cosens
Interesting maybe, but only if you like play-offs that is. It seems that the whole non-league game has gone play-off mad. I hope that this answers more questions than it creates. If not, feel free to direct them at Tony. He seems to be the one in the know, not me. I think that there is probably enough here, without me adding my thoughts. Besides, my keyboard needs a rest.
Sean Adams