Twenty one days of pain and frustration
Twenty one days ago the sun was shining. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky as Lewes kicked off against Canvey Island. Twenty four hours later I landed in Los Angeles to temperatures that would have had The Sun trumpeting as “Phew, what a scorcher” and “It’s hotter than Greece”. During the next week I worked with the sun shining all day, with my walk to the office along the empty beach in Santa Monica. Bliss, you may say and I would agree. Yet you mortals back in England were suffering freezing temperatures and tonnes of the white stuff. And of course that mean a serious lack of football.
Being purely selfish I was glad when the whole country called off their games the following weekend. Lewes’s game at Wingate & Finchley was postponed whilst I travelled east from California to New York. I cheered. Wingate is one of only two grounds I haven’t been to in the league so a re-arranged midweek fixture suited me perfectly. Seven days later and I was back in the UK but the after effects of the coldest February on record in many places in England again decimated the fixture let (and our plans for a game). What did this mean? Well, on the positive side, Lewes had gone unbeaten during February. On the pessimistic side, it would mean their last league win was 7 weeks ago when they beat Hastings United.
The enforced break had given manager Simon Wormull to assess his squad. Out had gone striker Michael Malcolm, and returning to the club was centre-back and ex-captain Chris Breach. Three good centre-backs may be needed for the visit to AFC Hornchurch.
The Urchins were enjoying a good season. They had devastated Lewes earlier in the season, ending The Rooks 100% home record with a four goal second half display. Since then they had topped the league, and despite losing a few games, had hung onto Billericay’s coat tails thanks to their strong, well organised approach play, and a proven non league centre-forward in Martin Tuohy, Golden Boot winner three seasons ago with 50 goals.
AFC Hornchurch actually play in Upminster, which is really the starting point of Essex. The drive down the country lanes from the M25 revealed some impressive houses, and the area can boast such residents as Jessie J, Frank Bruno and that girl from S Club 7 (Not Rachel Stevens, or the one that looked like a boy). It also has two windmills. One which is one of the last remaining grade II windmills left in England; the other is a pub outside the tube station. Guess which one we saw today?
As we supped our fine Essex Ales (Peroni, Strongbow and Tetley’s), the team news came through. AFC Hornchurch were fielding their two new players – Ex-Norwich City, Crystal Palace and Peterborough United striker Leon McKenzie and Fola Orilonishe from Sutton United. Lewes included signed that morning from the youth team Kelvin Brown as one of the three subs.
Hornchurch’s ground is a real mixed bag for spectators. Firstly, it is an athletics ground – but not a proper one as it only has six lanes. Unlike Melbourne Park, home of Chelmsford City, there are no big stands where you can watch the game from a bit of a height, nor is there any temporary stands behind either goal. This means the views from the small stands around the pitch are poor. However, they have an excellent bar area behind one goal that is set high above the pitch, meaning you can watch the whole game from inside the bar, or on a nice sunny day from the terrace outside.
As with all away games this season, Lewes arrive bearing gifts. A pretty impressive gift if you ask me as well. Seventy two pints of FREE BEER in the form of a polypin from Harvey’s, known globally as the world’s greatest beer. Within minutes of the beer arriving the away fans (and officials) will be queuing at the bar to get their pint of local luxury. The clubs can charge what they want for the beer (although few seem to grasp the whole point of the exercise and faced with an opportunity to earn 100% profit, still overcharge). We arrived in the bar at The Stadium and became one of many to ask for a Harveys. ”We haven’t put it on yet”…after the twentieth person came and asked they eventually obliged, although the barman who took the first pint screwed his face up and threw most of his drink away – a fine endorsement indeed.
Hornchurch also have a satellite feed from overseas. Based on the adverts I deduced it was Albanian. Whilst people crowded round to watch the Chelsea v Birmingham City game (which was on UK TV anyway) they were showing Everton v Blackpool at 3pm, which was watched by no-one. And here lies one of the points why it is a bit of a non-issue.
As the teams emerged from the dressing rooms and down the steps onto the pitch, the rain started falling. Hornchurch’s pitch had not endured the past few weeks well, and up until Friday were still not 100% confident this game would go ahead.
AFC Hornchurch 1 Lewes 0 – The Stadium – Saturday 18th February 2012
Big Deaksy chastised me after my post-match comments when I said we battled well but ultimately fell short. He suggested this was the corporate line. He is of course right to an extent. It was a crap game, played in crap conditions, on a pitch that helped neither team which eventually had a big hand in deciding the result.
Illness had robbed Lewes of Chris Breach, and Wormull attempted to fit square pegs in round holes, with Nanetti playing just behind Paul Booth. But there was little they could do about the strong wind blowing down the pitch that saw the ball by-pass the midfield in the opening exchanges. The home side made the best of the early running, and Lewes keeper Pawel Szelemj was the busier of the two but was rarely troubled although Hornchurch did have a good shout for a penalty when Tuohy was sent crashing in the area. Perhaps the referee, aware of the two soft penalties given for the Urchins in the reverse fixture earlier in the season was trying to even it all up!
On the half hour mark came the deciding moment of the game. Hustwick underhit a back pass to Pawel and the heavy ground slowed the ball up further, allowing the predatory Tuohy to anticipate the roll of the ball and he nipped in, rounded Pawel and slotted home into an empty net from an acute angle.
During half time the heavy rain upgraded itself to a monsoon. Consequently around a third of the 298 fans in the ground stayed in the bar, watching the game from our own large Executive Box. The tail wind was now blowing towards the Hornchurch goal and Lewes started to create some chances. Harry Harding, fresh from his two weeks at Fulham, started to dominate proceedings and Booth had a couple of half chances. But the Hornchurch keeper was rarely called into action – in fact it was still Pawel who had to make the saves from the likes of Tuohy and Thompson.
Lewes’s fight boiled over during the second half on one occasion when Jack Walder’s tackle on McKenzie started a mini-difference of opinion and the Lewes youngster could count himself a bit lucky to stay on the pitch.
The final whistle was greeted with some relief by the home fans – a 1-0 win is never comfortable whilst Lewes can take some heart by the performances of the back four, especially Charlie Leach who showed maturity well beyond his young years.
The next few weeks will prove a massive test for the team. Two games against the most in-form team in the league start the run of games. East Thurrock United have strengthened their squad thanks to the money they earnt in their FA Cup run to the televised first round game versus Macclesfield Town, and Lewes visit them first on Tuesday in the Ryman League Cup semi-final, before they come down to Sussex on Saturday. After that the Rooks have games against four of the top six in March. New players are on the horizon and the play-offs are still only a few points away, but it will need something extra to spark the team back into life. The watching world (in BN7) turns to Simon Wormull to see what that will be.
Can’t read my poker face
“Can’t read my, can’t read my, he can’t read my poker face”. So sang Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, aka Lady Gaga in her 2008 hit single Poker Face. But what actually is a Poker Face? Body language expert Paul Ekman defined in his research the concept of a “micro-expression” back in 1990. This was the split second (as quick as 1/100th of a second) change in facial features when someone is under pressure or stress. Ekman’s research involved watching hours of facial expressions in a number of situations, specifically in poker where players reaction to their dealt hands in the blink of an eye was often enough to give away their intentions.
Footballers tend to play more poker than your average Joe. Few are know to pick up a book and read on long away trips and whilst technology has meant that music and video is now more readily accessible and portable, old fashion card schools are still the order of the day on many coaches travelling up and down the country every weekend. Many players have become experts in games including Poker such as Teddy Sheringham and coincidently his old Millwall striking partner, Tony Cascarino. It isn’t just footballer who get involved in a high stakes game or two. Brighton & Hove Albion owner, and the man behind the dream of the Amex Stadium, Tony Bloom is a world-renown Poker player. Known as The Lizard, he has won significant sums in high profile events, including finishing runner up in the Poker Million XI event in December 2010.
Today it isn’t hard to find a game online. In fact a simple search on Google for the best online poker has over 11 million search results. Of course the advantage of the online game is that none of your opponents can see that micro-expression, or the Poker Face tell.
As of yet few academics have really researched the presence of a micro-expression in football. On average a penalty is awarded every 4.5 games in the Premier League, and the success rate is 70%. However, the actual number that are saved is still relatively low. PenaltyHQ.com have studied over 1,000 spot kicks from all of Europe’s top leagues in the past five seasons. Some keepers are better known for their penalty saving than others. During the 1990 World Cup semi-final penalty shoot out, England’s ageing keeper, Peter Shilton got nowhere near any of the German spot kicks and has a pretty poor career record of saving them. Compare that to West Ham’s Robert Green who has saved ten penalties in the past four seasons at West Ham with a success rate of over 60%. Green has never revealed his technique, but as one of the more cerebral players in the game today, I would imagine he researches the potential penalty takers in advance, looking for tell-tale signs, the “poker face” changes that give a clue as to their intentions.
Blink and you will miss it. That is the story that is shared between poker and football. With such high stakes, any slight advantage is key with both, and it seems now that the battlefield has moved into the brain rather than the brawl.
Romeo has nothing on me
Like most married men, Valentines Day’s arrival every year in a pain in the arse. Surely we do enough to show our love to our wives/girlfriends (and husbands/boyfriends – let’s not forget many women are fans of TBIR too) without having to go overboard on one particular day. So I am about to shatter a myth which will have you re-assessing your thoughts on the 14th February. It transpires that when the Shaftesbury Memorial Monument was built in 1893 to commemorate the work of politician, philanthropist and all round good egg Lord Shaftesbury in Piccadilly Circus it is not that of Eros sitting a-top the structure firing his arrow of love but of his identical twin Anteros. You see Eros was the sad lonely lovelorn character, whilst his brother was the God of Requited Love. He is the one with the bow, firing his love arrows at people in need of some TLC or happy endings, whilst Eros was banished to Lillywhites.
If Greek mythology is your bag then you will know that Anteros, with Eros, was one of a host of winged love gods called the Erotes, the ever-youthful winged gods of love, usually depicted as winged boys in the company of Aphrodite or her attendant goddesses. Good work if you could get it, flying around as an ancient porn baron if you please. If it is not, let’s talk about Leek Town.
Leek and Valentine’s Day – two odd bedfellows. Or are they? Some eighteen years ago, The Current Mrs Fuller and I headed off on our first ever holiday, destination Leek. When I say holiday, of course I mean a weekend away. These were the days before I knew what a ground hopper was, let alone whether anywhere I went had a team and CMF was still a young and innocent schoolgirl. What attracted me to her you may wonder? Apart from the fact I never had to ask her to dress up as a schoolgirl, it was her A-reg Ford Fiesta. Did we have some adventures in that car I can tell you. But on this trip we stayed in a farm house just outside Leek, with the snow fluttering down outside. I had set a high romantic bar for years to come. The weekend ended with my bravado of trying to drive her car through a ford despite warnings that it wasn’t suitable. Of course it wasn’t and a two hour delay whilst I found a farmer with a tractor didn’t exactly fill our room with love that evening.
So this year, after being on a different continent for most of the past two weeks, I decided to get all nostalgic and take her back to the wonderful Derbyshire/Staffordshire borders for the weekend. I had planned it to perfection. A trip to a spa on Saturday afternoon, followed by overnight in The Retreat, which is described as:-
“The cosy, 2 bedroom cottage has been refurbished to a high specification. The main double bedroom has an en-suite bathroom, which comprises a Jacuzzi bath and shower, and the second bedroom, also with its own en-suite, is suitable for single occupancy. The kitchen is well appointed with oak units and granite work surfaces, wi-fi throughout and the lounge has a 42” plasma screen tv with Sky fitted for your enjoyment.”
What they failed to mention though was it was 220 yards, or 2 minutes 33 seconds walk from Harrison Park, home of Evostik Division One South Leek Town. And would you believe it, they were playing at home on the very day I had booked CMF into the Spa for two hours on Saturday afternoon. Unbeliveable Jeff. Romantic, yet selfish one one breath. As CMF loves to say, “You really are a catch aren’t you” (Note: she normally says this when I have done something wrong and tried to cover up a major indescretion with a cup of tea/biscuit/petrol station flowers).
I did tell her the lucky co-incidence on the way up. She seemed so interested in my run down of Leek’s history that she plugged in a microphone to her iPhone to record my musing – that or she was actually listening to some music, but that couldn’t be true? Leek had once played at Wembley (1990 FA Trophy Final) – “Nearly as much as West Ham then” was the cutting remark to that one. They once reached 19th place in the now Blue Square Bet Premier – “Oooh, you mean they once became the 101st best team in England”. You can’t fault her maths can you. They average about 240 at home – “So my non attendance isn’t going to break the bank then is it?”. So she had confirmed she didn’t want to come then. And finally, when I told her they used to be called the hilarious Leek Lowe Hamil she simply shook her head and looked out of the window as the passing lorry drivers on the M1.
What could go wrong? Well how about the coldest start to February since records began? Fixtures were falling left, right and centre. It would have been too easy just to not go and resort to those petrol station flowers to celebrate Valentines Day but I am not a quitter. I am Spartacus! Well, sort of. We carried on across the snowy tundra of Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and finally into Staffordshire. It is not all about football, right? (ED – So why are you writing about this on a football blog).
Leek Town P Stamford P – Harrison Park – Saturday 11th February 2012
As we headed west I kept an eye on what games were falling by the wayside. Things weren’t looking good for the Leek area. Port Vale and Macclesfield Town, the two closest league teams to Leek had given up any hope of playing 24 hours before. Early on Saturday Matlock Town and Mickleover Sports conceded defeat to the wintry conditions. However, Leek Town was still holding out. As a good boy scout I also had a reserve option lined up – Chesterfield v Charlton Athletic.
Technically I am no longer a member of the infamous 92 Club. Whilst the club has become a bit more liberal these days, and even now has a website would you believe, some of their rules are nonsensical. I actually stopped being a member some years ago when I vowed that I would not be visiting Carlisle United any time soon after they were repromoted to the Football League some years ago. No disrespect to my Cumbrian cousins but it is a long way from the South East of England and I still have the mental scars of visiting them during the Mervyn Day era. So having visited Saltergate on numerous occasions I wasn’t falling over myself in planning a trip to the new B2Net stadium which they moved to last season. It was so similar to a host of other grounds around the country (ditto my only other omission from my list, Morecambe’s Globe Arena) that it wasn’t compelling enough to make me want a special trip. However, it was perfect as a back up should the weather take it’s toll.
Saturday 11.15am. Despite temperatures falling to a very chilly minus 15 in the East Midlands both Leek and Chesterfield hadn’t called their games off. But then I got the familiar vibrate on my phone to signify a new Tweet. I am fond of saying in my Social Media presentations that you no longer have to go looking for the news, it finds you thanks to the likes of Twitter. And here was the perfect example. Both Leek Town and Chestefield had been forced to cancel their games.
I kept a stiff upper lip and said to CMF that today was all about us and there was no football distractions. She of course completely believed me. “It’s been cancelled hasn’t it?” I forget sometimes that she is a genius and has known me for nearly 20 years. “Technically yes, but it was only a diversion for our weekend away” was the only response I could give as we made our way across the snowy tundra of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.
We stopped off at Rainsworth Miners Welfare FC and Mickleover Sports just to make sure they really were telling the truth about being off. The lush white carpet of snow at both seemed to back up the truth. At Mickleover the chairman even came out to greet us, assuming we had come from Buxton and didn’t know the game was off. “After all” he said ” why else would anyone come here on a non-match day”. Exactly….I got back in the car quickly.
Eventually we reached Leek and it would have been rude not to double check the pitch there. Alas the thick blanket of snow there with just two sets of footprints on the pitch suggested a pitch inspection had been swift and conclusive. And then I had an idea. I had a ball in the back of the car. Why not pretend the game was played with a kick around on the pitch between CMF and me? I’m not exactly sure what my wife actually said but it I definitely made out the words “going to the pub” in their amongst some expletives.
So we retreated to The Retreat no more than a goal kick away. A fantastic little cottage with a huge TV and a Wii….hold on – there was a copy of FIFA 11 there too. Second great idea of the day arrived – let’s play the game on FIFA!
It took me a good 3 minutes to catch her up walking swiftly up the hill into the town centre. Apparently it was a silly idea and it was never going to happen. Still she started to warm to the idea over a couple of Crabbies in the Black Swan whilst we watched the football world implode over a single handshake, or lack of one.
Football took a back seat for the rest of the day as we shopped, ate and drunk. The drinking was very enjoyable as we stumbled upon Den Engel, a pub with 53 different Belgian beers. The bar was run by a couple, according to Tripadvisor, were the Northern equivalent of Basil and Sybil Fawlty. They didn’t disappoint, frowning when someone asked if they could sit at their table in the bar to have their drinks. It was Saturday night at 10pm and they were sitting their in cardigans and matching slippers reading the weekend supplements. How inconsiderate. We toyed up the prospect of a trip to a nightclub, but Google didn’t fill us with confidence with the following review on the Knowhere Guide for Leek.
“Only go to these places (night clubs) if you want to take the piss out of the inbred locals; Don’t let them anger you – just laugh at how they think their nightlife is fantastic” Harsh.
There was also the Winking Man, that apparently had the highest function room in England at 1,500 foot above sea level but it closed at 12 so it wasn’t worth the trip out of town.
So we stayed in Den Engel and after a few De Koninks, some Tournay Noires, a smattering of Blanche de Bruxelles and topped off by a Franck Boon Kriek and Framboise we gingerly headed home, down a very steep hill which had a nice coating of ice. But we made it home and CMF was so chuffed with a “lovely day” so far that she said we could do whatever I wanted. She was eyeing the big jacuzzi in the bathroom. I was eyeing the FIFA11.
I set the weather conditions to snowy. I was Leek Town, although obviously EA Sports had neglected to include the Evostik League One South teams (an oversight surely that will be rectified in this year’s version?), CMF Stamford. The all blue kit of Everton doubled up as the home side, whilst the all red of Swindon Town represented Stamford.
The game wasn’t a classic. In fact after just 4 minutes I heard the familiar sound of a bath running upstairs as CMF had thrown her controller to the floor in disgust at my over physical tactics (on the game of course) which she deemed were “unnecessary” and going unpunished by the virtual referee. By this stage Ben Nixon (aka Tim Cahill) and James McCarthy (Louis Saha) had both scored for the home side. I played on until half time passing the ball around the back four, trying to tempt the Stamford players into coming forward. I heard the taps stop, the low hum of the jacuzzi starting and the music start. Let’s face it, Stamford weren’t going to come back from the two goal deficit so the game was abandoned with the Northern League immediately decreeing that the result would stand despite only 45 minutes having been played.
You see it isn’t always about football. Sometimes life needs to take priority over the beautiful game, well anyway for that two week period we seem to get every year when the weather decimates our national game. Normal service will be resumes next week I am sure, by which time I will have reminded CMF what a great husband I am for taking her away for a romantic weekend in the Peak District. Time is a great healer.
No Dr Feelgood factor for Lewes
“”You have to have the rain before you can have the rainbow”
In just 24 hours I would be walking along Santa Monica Pier in SoCal as us surfers know it, the sunshine on my face and the sand between my toes. You can’t beat a bit of winter sunshine to recharge the batteries after Christmas. And as if I needed any more incentive to go I had the promise of a date with the not too shabby Natalia Velez to look forward to.
But first I had a date with one of Essex’s finest – Canvey Island who were visiting the Dripping Pan for an early doors game against The Rooks. Early doors because of Brighton’s cup game versus Newcastle United just down the road at 5.15pm. Thanks to the Ryman League seeing sense, and the Essex side happy to leave Lakeside an hour earlier than normal, Lewes stood a chance of a decent crowd. We littered the Toon websites, forums and Twitter feeds with invites and promises of pints of Dog, Jimmy Nail look-a-likes and Lewes wearing a special one-off black and white striped shirt just for the day. Not strictly true but would they really notice after tucking into a few pints of Harveys?
Our cause had been helped no end by the efforts of the Guardian’s sports team who plugged the game via their Fiver email, eulogising that :-
“At this quaint little ground, you’ll be allowed to stand up, smoke your gills out, watch entertaining Brazil-circa-1970 style football, eat delicious modestly priced organic burgers and lorry back refreshing pints of the local brew Harveys all at the same time”
Thanks to some opportunist sales techniques that would have shamed a time-share salesperson in the Canary Islands I had managed to convince The Guardian’s Barry Glendenning as an owner a few weeks ago. Yes, he had been worse for wear; Yes, he was distracted by Sarah Hot Scores and yes I may have told him that by being an owner he was entitled to certain perks that weren’t strictly true, but Pressganging is not illegal (I think) in the 21st century. One man’s Richard Branson is another man’s Asil Nadir. Barry was making his first visit to the Pan and we were determined to make his visit a special one. After all, since he thrust the £30 in my top pocket back in December, “our” team had won three, drawn four and lost four as well as seeing the manager depart. Investments can go up and well as down as I reminded him when he asked for a refund.
Canvey Island, the Gulls, the pride of Park Lane. Lewes had already beaten the Islanders earlier in the season and what they could do with a moral boosting win today. Performances had been good, but a lack of goals was becoming a real worry. Five goals in the last six wasn’t a fair return for the effort, but add on the fact that three had come from penalties and you see the issue. Last Saturday the team lost 5-1 at Margate. Lewes shots 8, Margate shots 8. On Wednesday night the woodwork and a bobble in the six yards area stopped two certain goals. Today there was to be no excuse. It was win or bust….well not exactly that traumatic but we are hyping this up for the Guardian remember?
This was my third trip to Lewes in just four days after the Sussex Senior Cup match on Wednesday and then the Fans Forum on Thursday where we had batted away all questions fired at us from the fans. Now was the time for us to live up to our promise of Barcelona-esque football.
Lewes 1 Canvey Island 2 – The Dripping Pan – Saturday 28th January 2012
“You will win nothing with kids” One of the most famous understatements uttered by a pundit. Alan Hansen may have had to eat his words back when Sir Alex Ferguson blooded the likes of Scholes, Beckham and Giggs at Villa Park in August 1995, but since then how right he has been. Lewes today were forced to field a very young team as injuries ravaged Simon Wormull’s squad. The manager himself was even forced to play himself for the final thirty minutes, turning back the years with some of his visionary passing.
I can only imagine the mood in the Wormull house when the sick notes arrived this morning. Kamara – hip injury. Robinson – hamstring. Hamilton – foot. Hustwick – neck strain. These four are the Lewes back four. Any club would struggle to cope with such a situation. A major reshuffle saw Charlie Leech and Jack Phillips in the starting line up as well as new signing Jack Walder in the centre of midfield.
One good bit of news was that the Rooks had ditched the white shorts – going down the full Rosseneri look of red and black – Canvey opting for Crystal Palace away circa 1989. It was the yellows who started the stronger of the two and thankfully keeper Rikki Banks was in good form. With Lewes’s recent goals coming from the boot of Paul Booth it didn’t take a brave man (me) to predict he would be the first goalscorer, although Eddie Freemantle refused to take my tenner, reminding me that as a Director I was not able to place a bet on my team. Sure enough, a minute later Paul Booth rose and headed home a Nanetti cross to put the Rooks one nil up.
The second half saw Canvey well on top and it was no surprise when Jason Hallett scored in the 51st minute. We weren’t used to conceding a goal before the 90th minute so the crowd were stunned into silence. Everyone was confused. What to do? Well, how about the player/manager bringing himself on…Wormull stripped off and within a minute had played a trademark cross field pass to Nanetti. Every touch was greeted with a cheer. Could he win us the game and roll back the years?
Alas no. Canvey got stronger as the game wore on and with twenty minutes to go Bradley Woods-Garness smacked a loose ball home to give the Essexmen the three points. The thirty or so Canvey fans went home happy, having enjoyed their day out in the sunshine whilst the Rooks fans had to scratch their heads wondering what the team had to do to get that break and three points.
With the rain out of the way it was time to prepare for the Rainbow. Natalia Velez was sure to ask about the result. Don’t worry – I will take this one for the team. Until I return I bid you a fond farewell.
Last minute .com again
After the cup exploits last week against AFC Sudbury, it was back to earth with a very big bang, complete with a “Kiss Me Quick Hat” on Saturday as five second half goals sunk the Rooks at Margate. The journey back from a day out at the seaside on a normal trip is depressing enough, but one in the middle of January when you have been spanked 5-1 is possibly up there with a trip to the dentist or one of those “can we have a quick word in the cubicle” conversations with customs at the airport.
However, all was not lost. The Rooks had to chance to show their “bouncebackability” with another home cup tie. And not just any old cup tie. One against Eastbourne Borough, sworn enemies, deadly rivals and pretenders to the title “Best Non League team in Sussex”.
The Sussex Senior Cup is a strange competition. The bigger clubs (i.e Crawley Town and Brighton & Hove Albion) rarely take it seriously, yet every year it is the same story. The former seem to be eliminated early, the latter in for the duration despite fielding essentially a reserve team. Last season Lewes lost in the quarter finals at home to Brighton & Hove Albion, thus denying themselves the chance to reach the final, which was played at The Amex. This year, wins over Wick and East Grinstead had sent up a mouth-watering tie with Eastbourne Borough. The winners would join Crawley Down, Whitehawk and the winner of the BHA v Bognor Regis Town game in the draw for the semi-final.
Brighton & Hove Albion had reached the final of the last five competitions, winning four. In fact it was Lewes who were the last team to break this run back in 2006 when they beat Horsham.
Lewes hadn’t met Eastbourne Borough since New Year’s Day in 2009 when they met in the Conference Premier. Both teams had been promoted from the Blue Square South the previous season – Lewes as winners and Boro via the play offs. Those two games over the Christmas period had attracted near 5,000 fans. How both would love half of that now.
The clubs have lived almost parallel lives in the past season. Both were relegated last year – Eastbourne Borough from the Blue Square Bet Premier, and Lewes from the South division. More recently both had become manager-less as Eastbourne decided to part company with their management team who in part had been at the helm for over a decade. But whatever the circumstances both sets of fans wanted to get one over on the “old enemy”.
We were expecting a decent crowd. Obviously this was a “minor” cup competition in the eyes of many fans and we would normally only expect a few hundred. However, the draw of the derby-day atmosphere was certain to bring a few more through the gate. But perhaps the real compelling event would be the lure of the Lewes burger. Last week The Guardian Food and Drink supplement no less had spoken about the Lewes Organic burger being “the best fast food he has come across so far. The club spends more on its chefs that it does on players”- The Guardian Food and Drink – 18th January 2012
Lewes 1 Eastbourne Borough 2 – The Dripping Pan – Wednesday 25th January 2012
For 94 minutes this was a classic cup tie full of passion (on and off the pitch), hard tackles, goal mouth incidents and a decent atmosphere created by 637 fans. And then, the curse of the Dripping Pan struck again. Just as we had seen so many times (in fact twice already in January) we concede a late goal. Not quite a Horsham late goal, but still deep into injury time. Unlike the Horsham game this one was the knock-out box. With the game poised to enter Extra Time, Eastbourne Borough took all of the spoils and dumped Lewes on their backsides and out of the Sussex Senior Cup.
Pre-match had been a juggling act for new boss Simon Wormull. I arrived at the group at 4pm to find him busy on his phone trying to work out the formation. With our only goal keeping option, Rikki Banks, on loan from Eastbourne Borough and thus not able to play, he had managed to pull in a young Polish keeper to make his debut (Pawel would later dislocate his finger in the warm up, yet in true British Bulldog spirit simply taped it up and carried on playing). He brought in a number of the impressive youth team players and leading from the front, named himself on the bench. The spirit of the team of 2008 was not yet dead.
The opening exchanges were fast and frantic. Eastbourne had the better of the opening exchanges but then the Lewes midfield got hold of the ball, and Mel Kamara started powering forward from midfield. In a space of a few first half minutes Michael Malcolm showed that when luck is not on your side, nothing rolls for you. First he powered a header against the inside of the post, with the Eastbourne keeper stranded and then he saw his goal-bound toe poke trickle slowly towards an unguarded net only for it to be cleared by a last gasp sliding tackle. Half time – all square in love and war.
The Eastbourne fans had come in good voice, although some of them had obviously brought the “Football Fans song book from Green Street” with some of their chanting. Chaps – it’s a Sussex Senior Cup game not Millwall v West Ham. A chant of “No one likes us” made me chuckle as I recalled an away game back in April 2009 when they played at Altrincham which I saw where the home fans all clapped the 13 supporters who had made the trip on a cold Tuesday night – see someone does love you!
Ten minutes into the second period Eastbourne took the lead when a misjudged throw from the Lewes keeper fell straight at the feet of Matt Crabb and he sent the ball back over his head into the net. Lewes doubled their efforts with the impressive Harding always looking dangerous and Malcolm seeing efforts blocked by last gasp defending. Finally Lewes got their reward when Nanetti was brought down by the Eastbourne keeper Masters. With no covering defender and Nanetti not going away from goal it was bizarre that the referee (interestingly sharing the same unusual surname as an Eastbourne player) did not even book the keeper. Good job Hansen et al didn’t see it as we would still be discussing it now. Booth stepped up and dispatched the millionth penalty of the season for Lewes and it was game on.
We were in for a frantic final period with both teams having chances but failing to really test the keeper. Four minutes of injury time were announced, and with the clock showing 93:47 Ciardini’s sliced clearance fell to Ben Watson who thumped the ball home.
Lewes can feel hard done by to lose so late on, but in these games there always has to be a winner. This was one of the best performances of the season without a doubt and with more luck the scoreline would have been more favourable. But that is football. This is a team in transition and most of the fans appreciated the spirit, effort and hard work of the players as they made their way off the pitch. The Sussex Senior Cup will just have to wait another season.
On the gravy train again – From New Eltham to New Pudsey
“Northern Steve loves gravy”…He held the T-Shirt aloft that I bought him for his birthday and chuckled a Northern laugh. My Brother-in-Law is not predictable – he is married after all to CMFS (Current Mrs Fuller’s Sister) who keeps him just enough under the thumb to ration his gravy intake. He doesn’t get much joy being a West Ham fan based in Lincoln, apart from an odd outing to see them play at the likes of Derby County. But a couple of times a year we do enough good deeds around the house (essentially meaning we buy the kids a couple of DVD’s and our respective Newtons a bottle of Lambrini) and we head off to the wilds of the Northern Non Leagues on the search of meat based products laced by rich, smooth, hot gravy.
Our last trip had been to Gainsborough Trinity back in the spring of 2011 where we had found a perfect Pukka Pie which Brian Little had his eye on – I mean he wouldn’t have been looking at us fine strapping lads would he? So we were long overdue a trip. CMF and CMFS came up with a cunning idea this year for Christmas. Or so we thought. ”Let’s not buy each other Christmas presents, but put the money towards a night away somewhere” She told me, which of course translates to, “You pay and I will drink the mini-bar dry”. I agreed, knowing the power she has over “that” drawer in the bedroom as long as Northern Steve and I could go to football.
“Of course angel. As long as Rachael and I can go shopping/to the spa/male strip club”..I cannot remember which in all honestly after she said “of course”. So we looked at venues. CMFS was set on Liverpool. Me, less so for a variety of reasons, primarily because I had heard gravy still hadn’t made it that far down the M62. So Leeds was agreed on and we fixed a date. I set off on Saturday morning, from New Eltham to Kings Cross and then onto Leeds via Newark (anagram of Wanker by the way). I met the rest of the party there and after checking into the hotel and checking out the bar it was time for some football.
And as luck (insert winkey smiley here) there were a variety of Non League options just a few minutes train ride away from the city centre. My first choice was Blue Square Bet North side Guiseley but then Hartch stepped in.
“Oh, no Stuart lad. We will be going to THE NEST” The decision had been made for Northern Steve and I. We were heading for the Throstle’s Nest, home of Farsley FC. The Villagers, as they are known, used to be better known as Farsley Celtic (and also called The Villagers), which is a bit confusing as Farsley is actually a town in its own right and was the butt of a joke in a Monty Python sketch about pink blancmange (according to my Dad anyway). Hartch had lived for many years in the car park at the Nest. Not literally, but basically where the old car park used to be.
Hartch promised a top afternoon. Northern Steve wasn’t sure but I lied and said he had laid on strippers in the Farmers Inn public house. He was as good as sold on the word “laid”.
Farsley Celtic had been a big name in these parts. They played for one season in the mid-2000′s in the Blue Square Bet Premier, and were only actually one league below Bradford City and just two away from Leeds United for that glorious period. They over gambled on what it would take to compete at the top table in Non League football and were relegated at the end of the season. The following year they started in the Conference North with a 10 point penalty for financial irregularities and by March 2010 the club had called it a day.
But with local support, the sweat of a band of volunteers and some local people with a vision, the club reformed in time for last season and won the Northern Counties East League Premier Division at a canter. This season the story had been similar as they had surged up the table of the Evostik Division One North, just one level below the Blue Square Bet North.
Warrington Town were the visitors on this cold, crisp, Yorkshire afternoon. The fifteen minute train journey had been a one can strategy and when we arrived at New Pudsey (not to be confused with that yellow bear from BBC Children in Need who is “Old Pudsey”) we were met by Hartch. ”You’re on my manor now” he said in a menacing way, not sounding dissimilar to Harold Shand in the Long Good Friday.
We stopped off at the Farmers Inn, a huge cavern of a pub, more akin to a village hall. We told Steve that the Stripper was off ill after she developed a nasty burn from taking off her nylon thong too quickly. He was disappointed, but the promise of pie, beer and lots of hot gravy soon perked him up.
AFC Farsley 0 Warrington Town 1 – The Throstle’s Nest – Saturday 21st January 2012
With the wind and rain sweeping across the ground it was no surprise that the only goal of the game can be noted with the assist from a Mr Gail Force. Ten minutes into the game Warrington’s Matty Cross took a corner that found the jet stream and smacked into Farsley’s Tom Jackson and flew into the net. The wind dominated the first period, causing all sorts of problems for the home team, especially the keeper who could hardly kick the ball out of his own area.
After ticking off the obligatory dog in a football ground, a Deputy Senior Steward (there were only two stewards in the ground) and an aging member of a 70′s pop group during the first half we headed into the bar for some warmth. In truth the weather was spoiling the game. The referee was also struggling to control the tackles flying in on the pitch, and the number of “dust ups” had overtaken corners. It was amusing to see (and hear) the managers also trying to adapt their language in shouting at the female linesman. Not that it bothered her in the least, telling them to “Shut ya trap” on a number of occasions.
The bar was packed. In fact it was strange to see so many fans in their with their Farsley shirts on watching Sky Sports News whilst the game was going on. The clubhouse is a seven day a week venue and is a key source of revenue for the club. Any move up the non league ladder is dependent on what the club can bring in off the pitch.
The second half saw the wind drop for awhile, and was replaced by rain. As Dolly Parton once said, you need the rain before you can have the rainbow and sure enough it appeared soon after, distracting most of the 229 people in the ground for a few minutes. Farsley continued to attack but they simply could not break down a dogged Warrington defence. The away fans, complete with drum, big flag and a man holding a stopwatch (who occasionally shouted out random times to the crowd around him) looked on nervously, feeling a home goal coming before too long.
With time ticking down they threw everything at the visitors. In the ninetieth minute they had a final corner. Bambrook’s corner found that jet stream again and the ball hit the post and there was a big shout for the ball having crossed the line. ”Play on” shouted the referee and a smart overhead kick from Jackson looked like it was blocked on the line by a Warrington hand. ”Play on” came the shout again from the referee but it was too late. Warrington took the spoils and the Farsley fans had to content themselves with a balm cake and a pint of Tetley. It hadn’t been the best of games (unlike the Guiseley game which had ended 4-3), but it had been a warm welcome from a club who pride themselves on being at the heart of the community.
Hartch kindly took us back into the bright lights of Leeds. The girls were already tucking into the free bar so it was rude not to join them. By 9pm we had ventured out into the city and stumbled upon the BierKeller. The place was heaving. Five hours later after an evening of Oompa music, thigh slapping and general dancing and singing to songs that would really embarrass the kids we headed home, tired, partly deaf but battle hardened. My journey to New Eltham to New Pudsey was complete.
The magic of the Alan Boon Cup
Deep down any football fan of a lower level team (and by lower level I mean anyone apart from Man City, Man Utd or Chelsea) wants to see their team play in a cup final – yes Arsenal and Liverpool fans I am also talking about you. We all say “who really wants to win the Carling Cup/Johnstone Paint Trophy/FA Trophy” when we are knocked out of the competition to a lower level team, but if our team ever gets to a final we all know the fans will come out in force.
It is amazing to think that clubs were average attendances sometimes barely break 2,000 can muster ten or twenty times that when there is a cup final in the offing. Take the example of last season’s FA Trophy Final. Darlington played local rivals Mansfield Town at Wembley Stadium. The attendance? 24,668 which was less than in previous years. Nearly 15,000 had come down the M1 from Nottinghamshire for their first appearance at Wembley Stadium. Yet in the fixtures between the two sides earlier in the season the crowds had been 2,234 and 1,614 respectively.
Or who can forget the site of Luton Town legend Mick (friend of The Ball is Round) Harford holding aloft the Johnstone Paints Trophy at Wembley Stadium in April 2009? The Hatters were about to be demoted from the Football League thanks to the ridiculous 30 point penalty levied on them by the authorities yet nearly 40,000 fans had made the short hop down from Bedfordshire for the game. 40,000 is quite a difference to the average 6,019 who attended games at Kenilworth Road during the season.
The magic of the cup eh!
Lewes are another side starved of cup final glory. Our Wembley aspirations this season were firmly shut by Bonfire night thanks to away defeats to lower league Chertsey Town in the FA Cup and Harlow Town in the FA Trophy. Our last cup final was many-a-year ago in the Sussex Senior Cup (in 2006 to be precise) so like most fans at this level, The Rooks feel they deserve a chance to dust down the Rosettes and the tin-foil replica’s of the trophy.
Despite the early exits in the two FA competitions we had made steady progress in the other two cups available to us. In the Sussex Senior Cup victories over Wick and East Grinstead have set up a mouth-watering local derby next week with Eastbourne Borough but first up was the quarter final of the Ryman League cup against AFC Sudbury.
The competition, which had been renamed the Alan Boon Trophy in honour of the ex-Staines Town chairman who had done so much for Non League football had proved to be incredibly competitive this season. Lewes had overcome Crawley Down and Folkstone Invicta in the early rounds before being drawn away to Met Police in December. A hard fought 2-1 victory put the Rooks in the last eight of the competition and fortunately avoided a long away trip (also in the draw was Lowestoft Town and Bury Town – both 3 hour plus away trips). Instead a home tie against Ryman League North AFC Sudbury was our reward.
That is not to take anything away from the Suffolk club. We visited them last season, thoroughly enjoying the afternoon in the sunshine at their smart King’s Marsh ground. They have tasted success before as a non-league side, reaching three consecutive FA Vase finals. Alas it was in the period when Wembley was being rebuilt and so they cannot wear the “I’ve played at Wembley” badge.
After the impressive turn out on Saturday for the visit of Kingstonian it would be interesting to see how many would be back for this match. Cheap admission (just £5 for the 700+ Lewes Members), warmer weather (a balmy 13 degrees forecast for East Sussex), the lure of a cup semi-final appearance and the second game of Simon Wormull’s temporary stewardship of the team. All valid reasons for people to get on down to the Pan for this one to see if Lewes could join Lowestoft Town and Bury Town in the semi-final draw and be just one step away from the final at Staines Town’s Wheatsheaf Park.
This really was a journey and a half on a wet and misty evening for the visitors and it was no surprise that we received notice from them that they were delayed north of the river. As time ticked on the referee instructed the Sudbury players to be “changed and ready for action” by the time they arrived at the Pan, which they duly did around 7.45pm. A quick warm up on the pitch and it was time for the fate of the two teams to be decided.
Lewes 1 AFC Sudbury 1 – The Dripping Pan – Wednesday 18th January 2012
As a neutral penalty shoot outs are the best invention ever. As a fan who is watching one unfold in front of you it is a completely different affair. Every time a player comes up to take one you feel yourself trying to get into their head, trying to work out what they will do. At 10.08pm last night when, after eleven spot kicks, Lewes keeper Rikki Banks dived low to his left and pushed the ball out we could all breathe a sigh of relief. This extended torture was not in the script.
The game had started with both teams playing some decent football. Sudbury surprised the home fans with their expansive play and created the first real chances of the game which Banks had to be alive to. Lewes rarely threatened the Sudbury keeper in the first half an hour, and what balls were pumped into the box were easily handled by their keeper. Michael Malcolm saw his toe poke past the keeper roll agonizingly for the Lewes fans towards the goal but then hitting the post and falling to safety.
However, as if to remind the Lewes fans standing on The Jungle that football can be a fickle master, Sudbury then went and took the lead when Robbie Martin’s “lofted” shot flew over Bank’s head. This was not in the script. Fortunately the lead only lasted ten minutes as Matt Somner powered in a near post header from a Nanetti cross to level the scores.
I don’t think any neutrals or Sudbury fans could say that the second half wasn’t one way traffic as Lewes pounded the visitors goal. The Rooks had three shouts for penalties which 99% of officials would have given (well, two of them anyway – the third appeared to have been committed inside the area but he gave it outside) and Malcolm, Booth and youngster Howell all went incredibly close.
With five minutes to go we had a horrible thought – “Does Simon Wormull know if the game finished all square it goes straight to penalties?”. ClubSec Kev was dispatched to the bench to find out – fortunately he knew which was handy as at just on 10pm the referee blew full time and the game would be decided by spot kicks.
I could describe them all in glorious detail, but instead Lewes owner Matt Holland filmed all of the tension on his trusty iPhone where I can be seen in the foreground as calm as anything (in front of Big Deaksy, who is the big chap in front of camera).
There always has to be a winner and a loser in penalties, and whilst we commiserate our visitors, our attentions now turn to the draw for the semi-finals and the hope we avoid long away trips to Bury Town and Lowestoft Town.
The magic of the cup is still alive and well in East Sussex.
Postscript: Just as the game was starting, the club announced that manager Steve King had left after a mutual consent agreement had been reached.
Duffed up
It is rare that I go to a game and do not whip out my camera or my phone to record the action but yesterday as the referee blew the final whistle at The Dripping Pan I realised that I hadn’t taken one picture. Not that there wasn’t any action on the pitch, but I had a guest with me. Football Jo.
For those of you who are new to The Ball is Round you will have never come across Football Jo. A few years ago she used to accompany me around the world to watch football. But then she decided she really did need a boyfriend. In the past she had a “love my football and love me” motto. She has her own house, own car, own extensive porn collection and own teeth. But some men couldn’t hack her commitment to the beautiful game. So she compromised and stopped coming to strange overseas locations to watch bizarre games. But it didn’t last and she rang me two weeks ago asking when she could come down to Lewes. She was single again and thus she wanted to get back into football. And what better place than The Dripping Pan.
Today’s visitors were Kingstonain, complete with Martin Tyler as their assistant manager. Yep, THAT Martin Tyler. One can only speculate if he commentated on the game from the bench in the same style he does for Sky Sports.
This was another Lewes game that was due to clash with Brighton. Previous clashes had seen average gates of less than 600 and on a chilly afternoon a crowd of around that would be a good turn out.
Lewes 1 Kingstonian 1 – The Dripping Pan – Saturday 14th January 2012
It was Horsham all over again. Lewes ended up conceding a late equaliser in a game that they should have put to bed before half time. At least this week we didn’t see any silly antics when Lewes were awarded a first half penalty as Paul Booth took one look at the bench and Simon Wormull’s nod said it all.
Lewes started in third gear, racing forward and using the width of Nanetti and Ciardini from the first few minutes. However, it was the visitors who had the best early chance when Duff blasted over from close range. Lewes responded, Harding danced into the area and was brought down. Harsh? Well, compared to one that wasn’t given later on then I would say so. Booth stepped up and made no mistake from the spot for his tenth goal of the season.
Half way through the first period the linesman called the referee over. A heated debate took place on the touchline with the Kingstonian bench, the result of which was the K’s manager was sent off. In a day and age where any language seems to be acceptable on a football pitch it must have been something very bad for the red card.
Half time and to feed my hunger I queued for a burger. ”Cheese burger please” I asked…”Chedder, Stilton or Burger Cheese?” I can honestly say I have never been offered Stilton on a burger at a football game and it was tops. If that is not enough to put another few hundred on the gate I don’t know what ever will.
The second half saw Kingstonian come back into the game and test Rikki Banks. Lewes had a great shout for a penalty when Nanetti was hauled down but the referee instead chose to book the Italian for diving. A big let off for the visitors and they made The Rooks pay. First Banks pulled off the “save of the season” from Simon Huckle. But the 711 in the ground could feel a K’s goal coming and with ten minutes to go Duff skipped around the normally solid Hustwick and he beat Rikki Banks to give Kingstonian a deserved equaliser.
A draw wasn’t the tonic we were looking for after a difficult week but results elsewhere still kept the Rooks in 4th place. The cold wasn’t enough to keep away the fans and even Football Jo loved it, although that was perhaps she fell in lust with a certain little Italian with magic feet. Here we go again.
Running up that hill
With the Lewes v Horsham game all done by 2pm, and my agreed ETA back at TBIR Towers 5.30pm I had a few options as to where I could lay my hat for the afternoon. My initial plan was the Kent derby between Landlords Sittingbourne and tenants Maidstone United at Bourne Park but bloody Sunday drivers on the A26 up through Tunbridge Wells meant I was never going to make that. A quick look at the great non league fixture computer in the sky (i.e Google) threw up one real alternative - Sevenoaks Town v Greenwich Borough
I have become quite a fan of the Kent Premier League in the past few seasons, primarily because it is local. In some instances, such as Cray Valley, Erith & Belvedere and Holmsdale I can even cycle to games. However, a cycle down (and thus at some stage, back up) the North Downs wasn’t too appealing so I had the perfect opportunity to visit on this trip.
Sevenoaks Town have been knocking around for nearly one hundred and thirty years. However, it wasn’t until 2003 that they joined the ranks of the Kent League. Since then they have expanded their ground, located in the picturesque Greatness Park to the north of Sevenoaks to fulfil all the grounding requirements known to man. Floodlights, smart new changing rooms, a couple of little stands and a decent tea bar. All ticks in the boxes.
Sevenoaks is a nice place. In fact last week it was voted 5th in “We have more million pound houses in a single road than you” competition. Alas the original Seven Oaks, located around the Vines cricket ground were blown down (bar one) in the 1987 great storm although today they have planted some more – in fact eight more although there are no plans to rename the town as Nine Oaks.
It was here, the grounds of Knole Park, that the Beatles made the films Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane (today called “pop videos”), as well as being here where the brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll were born and spent their time close by watching the cars on a new fangled road called the M25 that inspired the name of their group, Orbital.
Sevenoaks Town 1 Greenwich Borough 0 – Greatness Park – Monday 2nd January 2012
I arrived with barely a minute of the game gone thanks to a learner driver who was being allowed to drive at 10mph along the Tonbridge bypass. The car park was full, leading me to believe it was a big crowd. Alas it wasn’t. The car park also served the children’s playground, a skateboard park and numerous dog walkers. The ground sits at the base of a steep hill, which offers uninterrupted views of the game from a TV-gantry height free of charge. No wonder it was so popular with the dog walkers, who would all volunteer to take the canines out on a Saturday afternoon.
I made my way initially around the ground, getting a view from all vantage points. For clubs with such a small supporter base it must be frustrating to have spectators who essentially have a free ride whenever they are at home.
The first half was a tight, scrappy affair. These two had come into the game propping up the table. Both had awful home records, mustering just three points between them from their seventeen home games this season. So the money would have surely been on a draw and judging by the first period anyone’s bets (but not mine remember) would be safe.
After a flurry of first half yellow cards the second half was a much more sedate affair. With the moon lighting up a cloudless sky and the temperature dropping quickly Sevenoaks looked more eager for the win and made a significant change in the 74th minute when George Savage was brought on. His first impact on the game? Running into the area and being brought down by the keeper. His second? Getting up and slotting the spot kick home. Not a bad start for the youngster.
So three points for the home side lift them out of the relegation zone and I could make my way home happy with a couple of games under my belt on a Bank Holiday. Beats B & Q anyday.
A Hornets sting in the tail
The world changed for Lewes FC in July 2011 when Brighton & Hove Albion moved into the American Express Community Stadium, located just one train stop or 4.7 miles from The Dripping Pan. We always knew that there would be an exodus of fans to the new stadium and hoped that the fixture computer would be kind to us and not arrange any major fixture clashes. The first half of the season saw just two such clashes, which had around a 20% impact on the gate. So we (the board of directors don’t you know) decided to experiment with the game on Bank Holiday Monday with Horsham when the next clash was due to take place and decreed it would be a midday kick off.
The reasons for this were plentiful. A local derby against one of Lewes’s oldest rivals, and one just 30 minutes away by car was always going to attract a large crowd. Coupled with Brighton’s “local” game versus Southampton at 3pm, the fact that Lewes has become the place to “park and ride” for the Amex, as well as the local licencing laws meaning the pubs couldn’t open until midday anyway. Finally, Plumpton racecourse was hosting the Sussex Grand National no less (Many thanks to Eddie The Shoe for the tip on Double Dizzy) so a few of the crowd may be planning to head up to the estate of Lord Plumpton and lay a bet or two and keep him in fine wines and cigars for another year. So we (the board) voted overwhelmingly to move the game.
Every fan at this level matters. The average league attendance at The Pan this season is 599, the second best in the league behind Lowestoft Town. But on the two occasions when the game has directly clashed with Brighton, the attendance has on average been 521. Per game, we see £11.54 spent per paying fan so that 78 difference costs us around £900. For a small club that is quite a bit of cash. So by moving the game to an earlier kick off not only will we not lose those 78 fans, and their £900 but we may also gain a few “early doors” Brighton fans (in theory). And if we can get 100 of them then we will see another £780. Grown up thinking? We will see.
The world of watching Lewes for me changed on the 27th October when I joined the board. I now feel the pain of every ball that is hoofed out of the ground, every player that goes down holding his leg and every Golden Goal ticket left unsold. Such is the community spirit now within the club that there is a regular sweepstake among the Lewes Lunatic Fringe not only on the final score, but also the crowd. Anything that starts with a 5 normally produced a frown, a 4 is a wince and a 6 or above a smile.
Today was going to be interesting though. With a number of pubs in the area also not open until 12pm the Rook Inn could be the social hub of the town. It would also mean I got to see my mate Hugo Langton. One of the nicest people you could ever want to meet, I first met Hugo a year ago (well, 364 days ago) when he was a coach at Thamesmead Town. He then joined Horsham in the same capacity in the summer and then in the Autumn stepped into the hot seat. Despite all of his efforts, Horsham are still rock bottom of the league and came into the game on the back of seven consecutive league defeats. What odds would you get on a away win today? Could they do a Blackburn and upset the form book?
Lewes 1 Horsham 1 – The Dripping Pan – Monday 2nd January 2011
With all three additional minutes played in this game, Lewes were wasting time in the corner, happy that a 1-0 win would take us closer to Billericay at the top of the league. Twenty seconds our Bank Holiday world had been turned upside down as the visitors broke and scored with literally the last kick of the game. Fair? Well, actually to some extent, yes.
By 11.30am there was a good five hundred in the Dripping Pan, and our initial pessimistic view of a crowd of 600 looked wide of the mark. The “Brighton factor” or more likely Danny Last’s networking, had pulled in a number of early doors Seagulls fans, resplendent in their candy striped shirts. Extra hands were being employed in the Rook Inn and in Maria’s kitchen where Venison pasties were on the menu (They didn’t sell very well according to Mr Freemantle because they were too deer!). The sun was shining, the beer was flowing and people were loving the early start. What could go wrong?
Horsham’s fans had turned up in big numbers, complete with big flags. They didn’t let up their support for their team throughout the 94 minutes, despite their team’s wretched form, and it was the visitors who had the better of the opening exchanges. In fact if it wasn’t for the reflexes of Rikki Banks they would have been a couple of goals to the good within the first half an hour.
With such excellent weather I decided to climb to the top of the mound outside the ground to get a different perspective on things. The mound was made, apparently, from the earth moved from the site of the Dripping Pan and commands fantastic views over the ground to the South Downs as well as Lewes Castle to the North. Within minutes Lewes took the lead. Nanetti crossed and the every impressive Harry Harding smashed the ball home.
As I cheered from my lofty position I saw a flash of green out of the corner of my eye. I turned my head quickly to the side, but saw nothing. Then again, but from the other side of the mound. I must have been seeing things, with Northern Rachael’s punch from New Year’s Eve now taking on hallucinogenic properties. But no – straight ahead of me panting as he climbed the final few steps was a man (I think) dressed as the Green Hornet, complete with mask and yellow gloves with flashes on. He was followed by a man (again I think) with a blue full body suit on. They looked at me, I looked at them and then they turned, pulled out a video camera and started shooting a make-believe super hero action scene. Two’s company, three’s a crowd so I left…
The second half saw Lewes more comfortable on the ball. Nanetti was again teasing and tormenting the full back into mistakes, and it was inevitable he would be booked for one foul too many. However, it was a surprise that it remained 1-0 until the 72nd minute when Horsham’s Hunter, who had just saved his team with a great stop, brought down Harding in the area.
It became obvious that with first choice (Ciardini) and second choice (Booth) penalty takers on the bench, no instructions had been given to the team. Queue a farcical scene of bickering between a group of players before rock, scissors, stone decided that Albert Jarrett would take the kick. It wasn’t the worst spot kick you will ever see but Hunter dived and parried it away.
Time ticked down and Lewes seemed happy to hang on for a 1-0 win. But then with time up Horsham broke and the ball fell to Kedze on the edge of the box and his shot beat Banks and rippled the net. A collective sigh went up from the crowd at one end, ecstatic cheers at the other as the form book had indeed been upset again.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom though. The official attendance of 1,005 beat our most optimistic expectations, and was over 400 higher than our average. If all of them spent their £11.54 it would have been a very successful financial decision to move the kick off. Time will tell but for now we just had to be content with a point and our place in the top four.
More pictures from the afternoon can be found here.
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