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.
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.
A Christian Cracker
‘Tis the season to be jolly. That is unless you are an out of work football manager. Just two weeks ago Tooting & Mitcham United parted company with ex-Sheffield United player Mark Beard as their manager. The life of a non league manager is a perilous one that is for sure. Whilst the tenure of a league manager is at its all time low of 1.5 years, the non leagues tend to be even harsher. Few managers below the Blue Square Bet Premier enjoy contracts in length of more than a season. There is no loyalty in football, simple as.
The Terrors came into the Christmas special with Lewes on a horrendous run. One point from their last eight league games, and twenty-three goals conceded put them firmly at the bottom of the current form table. Despite Mark Beard being a “good all round chap”, any club owner would be compelled to act in such circumstances, mores the pity, especially when a new board had just taken over the club with grand plans that included “League Two football in a 14,000 seater stadium within 10 years”.
The non leagues are littered with clubs who thought they could change the world. Few clubs have ever made it – Yeovil Town’s rise was built on being the biggest club in a huge catchment area, coupled with a well run club. Accrington’s rebirth on community spirit and even Crawley Town had plied their trade in the Conference Premier for a number of years before the money appeared. Whilst I admire the ambition of any club (and being a director of Lewes I know what our ambition is), there is a sense that someone needs to just remind them of reality.
They currently get crowds hovering around the 300 mark, sitting at the apex of a triangle with Sutton United and Carshalton Athletic just a couple of miles away, whilst AFC Wimbledon are just five miles to the west. With thousands of people sitting on the doorstep you have to wonder why they haven’t been through the gates of The Hub (as their ground complex is called).
With their new owners came a new manager. Kenny Brown, son of the legendary West Ham defender and Norwich City manager Ken, was last seen in the non league game at Grays Athletic working alongside Julian Dicks. Kenny once cost Manchester United the league title with a goal for West Ham against them in April 1992 which handed the momentum to Leeds United.
Brown joined the club just a few days ago and had already brought in a number of new faces, some of which who met for the first time on the coach down to Lewes. With the Rooks recent form (apart from the blip last week against Concord Rangers) being white-hot, few would have backed anything apart from a home win.
With this being the last game before Christmas and to celebrate our nomination as the Best Football Blog at the NOPA’s (Well done to In Bed With Maradona for winning the award btw) we agreed to be Matchball sponsors for the day. My special guest, Sarah “Hotscores” Flotel was to decide the man of the match. Little did we know that the choice would be so easy.
Lewes 3 Tooting & Mitcham United 1 – The Dripping Pan – Saturday 17th December 2011
At 3:12pm, five miles away at Falmer, Brighton & Hove Albion had been reduced to nine men. ”Blimey” was the collective comment on the Jungle terrace as Lewes battered Tooting & Mitcham United (hereby called TMUFC for brevity). Less than an hour later the visitors would have gone one better than the Seagulls, playing out the final period of the game with just eight men. Anyone looking from the outside in would assume this was a dirty game. The truth was very different.
In one of those instances where the planets align, the game was being attended not only by the Sussex FA but also by a referee assessor putting undue pressure on the man in the middle Saul Kay. That can be the only reason why the official was far too quick to take action in a game where there wasn’t a malicious tackle.
Lewes started as if they meant business, carrying on the attacking intent from Tuesday nights win at Carshalton Athletic. Early in the game TMUFC keeper Darren Behcet was called into making a couple of saves from Malcolm and Harding. In fact Behcet earnt top marks for his banter with the crowd all afternoon. It is rare that keepers bother to interact with the crowd, but when they do it creates a bond, and the fans appreciate it. Even when Christian Nanetti’s cross drifted over his head in the 45th minute to give Lewes the lead we couldn’t bring ourselves to mock him even though it had to be his fault.
By this stage TMUFC were already down to ten men. Midfielder Charlie Dove went to challenge Nanetti in front of the benches and the linesman. He didn’t leave the ground in the tackle, his studs were not showing and contact with Nanetti, who was already trying to hurdle the tackle, was minimal. A yellow card would have been harsh, but Mr Kay pulled out a straight red. Even the Lewes players put arms around Dove as he walked off the pitch.
The second half started with a bang as within a few seconds of the restart Malcolm hit the bar with a thunderous shot and Harding’s follow-up somehow being kept out by the TMUFC fullback on the line. With Lewes camped firmly in the TMUFC half things went from bad to worse when Jordan Wilson received a second yellow for a very soft challenge. With the possessionometer (that must be a Sky inspired word?) firmly in the red for Lewes, and the visitors now two men down only a fool would have put a bet on TMUFC scoring the next goal, but that is exactly what happened when Charlie Stimson was unmarked (how? We had two extra players!) at the far post and steered the ball home.
If it wasn’t for Rikki Banks in the Lewes goal TMUFC would have then taken the lead as he made two world-class saves in quick succession. Were the wheels about to fall off the Lewes juggernaut? Cometh the hour, cometh the little Italian wizard. Finally Lewes realised that there was more room on the pitch and started feeding Nanetti. With full back Terry Fennessy already on a yellow, and a trigger happy referee, he started to take on the full back at will, getting to the byline on a number of occasions without the final ball finding a home.
Then with twenty minutes to go Malcolm managed to get on the end of one of these runs and despite Behcet’s initial save, he followed it up to stab it home. Number three came again from Nanetti’s byline insertions although he had decided to swap wings. His low cross was smashed home by Alex Stavrinou to make it three with ten minutes still to play.
It was inevitable that Nanetti would taunt Fennessy once too often and the full back brought him down, earning his second yellow and TMUFC’s third red card. Can they claim they were “cheated” as their fans thought? There was no doubt every single incident was a foul and perhaps under another referee (not being assessed?) they would have finished with a couple more men on the field.
With a few minutes to go I had to make the call on Man of the Match. Banks for his brilliant saves? Max Hustwick for his outstanding defensive performance? Matt Somner for his solid performance in the middle of the park? Stavrinou for his box to box running? There really could only be one choice…..The referee. No sorry, Christian Nanetti scored one, made two, had a hand in three sendings off and still had the most bizarre haircut on the pitch. The lad is a real talent and when he is on song like today there are few teams who would want to face him.
So Lewes go into the Christmas period with six wins in their last seven games, back in the playoff positions and having two home ties in the quarter finals of two cups there was reasons to be cheerful. For the visitors? One point from a possible twenty-seven, three suspensions pending and a new squad to bed in mean things look a bit Bob Scratchit.
More pictures from an interesting day can be found here.
The funniest joke in the world
Wingate & Finchley, Finchley & Wingate. This was a new one for Lewes. There are some very knowledgeable people around the club these days, including my fellow board member Terry Parris. Terry holds the distinction of being a player at the club (just 600+ appearances), Manager, Director and for a period, Chairman. There are few nicer chaps around and even he could not think of when/or even if we had played the combined powers of N2.
Promoted last season from the Ryman League One South after a play off win against Brentwood Town, they started the season like a train but have had mixed results in the past few months pushing them into the quagmire of mid-table. It is fair to say this was a big step for the club and they appeared to be just keeping their heads above water. But I have reasons to laugh and cry at the word Finchley.
I am a little too young to have really appreciated Monty Python in its prime. I remember going bright red as a thirteen year old in the company of my parents watching the “Every sperm is sacred” scene from the Meaning of Life but then laughing like a loon at the funniest sketch ever made in the same film when Mr Creosote was offered a “Waffer-thin mint” with disastrous effects.
One running theme through a number of the shows and films was the idea of the “Funniest Joke in the World”. The concept was that this joke was soooo funny that anyone who heard it dropped down dead. The sketch continued to run for many years and the only part you ever heard was the world “Finchley”. That to me was the sum total of my dealings with Finchley until the 7th March 1990. After that date I can never utter the word Finchley without a cringe of embarrassment running down my spine.
At the time I was young and naive. I was working for a major high street bank and had just started going out with a girl who lived with her parents in Barnet. The family was ruled with an iron fist by the matriarch and despite being nearly 21 at the time, myself and her eldest daughter, had to abide by a strict code of conduct that saw us placed three stories apart in their house when I stayed over. There was to be no consideration of nights away anywhere, and even the slightest glimpse of a holiday brochure set her off on one of her lectures.
On Valentines Day that year West Ham United had travelled up to Oldham Athletic to play in the League Cup semi-final. The six nil defeat was a headline writers dream and essentially made the return leg meaningless. But I bought tickets for my then beloved Jo (previously to meeting CMF I went out with four Jo’s in a row which made it easier when they “overlapped”) and myself in a game that was to be her first ever football match. Quite how it went from me explaining exactly what the “back door” was in footballing parlance to us being engaged an hour after full time I will never know. But I do remember at one point, delirious with the win (West Ham battered Oldham but could only pull back three of the six goals) and pissed, incredibly pissed, kneeling down in the footwell of her pink Fiat Panda (classy girl) and proposing at the traffic lights at the junction of the High Road and Sumners Lane in Finchley – just a hundred yards or so from Wingate & Finchley’s current ground.
What was I thinking about? They say to see what your wife will look like when she gets old, just look at her Mum. Did I not see that? Did that not fill me with dread? The fact that I was on severe “rations” may have been influencing my thinking but this was sheer desperation (although in fairness the internet hadn’t been invented yet by Mr Berners-Lee).
The end result? An engagement ring that cost a month’s salary, no increase in any carnal knowledge and the end to any football matches on a Saturday whilst we “planned the big day”. Win/win situation eh?
A year later, still with little progress in *that* area and faced with a life being dominated by my mother-in-law I called it all off and ran away for a year to Greece, where I incidentally met The Current Mrs Fuller who was only too happy to allow me a season ticket in more ways than one. The rest, as they say is history.
So I cannot hear the word “Finchley” without a thought as to what may have been. Based on my dealings with the club’s Commercial Director, Mike Bayly, I am sure they are a top bunch of people, but for one afternoon I really hope that Lewes could help me get over the nightmare of Finchley High Road by stuffing the visitors.
With the sun winning its fight with autumn and giving us another chance to wear our shirtsleeves the teams took the field. Lewes welcomed new loan signing in the middle of the park, Alex Stavrinou from Ebbsfleet United in the hope that the problem are from the past few weeks would be solved. Only ninety minutes would tell.
Lewes 0 Wingate & Finchley 0 – The Dripping Pan – Saturday 19th November 2011
Whilst the nil nil draw was two points dropped for the Rooks, this was one of the best games I had seen this season. Lewes have struggled this season to put together ninety minutes of good football at home this season, normally putting in a good half here and there but disappointing in the next period. But today they gave their all for ninety minutes, perhaps inspired by the visitors who came with a real attacking intent.
The first half was a real treat for the near six hundred fans in the Pan. Wingate & Finchley came within a lick of paint of taking the lead early on when a Leon Smith shot from distance hit the post with one of those satisfying PING’s that reverberated around the ground (one for those amazing chaps over at 500 Reasons to love football surely?). Lewes tried to get Nanetti into the game but he was very well marshalled by the very impressive Kieron Street for the visitors.
It looked like the deadlock had been broken though in the eleventh minute when Ian Draycott headed home. However, the linesman had deemed that somewhere there was a offside. With the ball being headed back across the area it was hard to see where the offender was, and at half time Steve King asked the linesman if he was “old enough to do the job”.
The second half saw more of the same with both keepers kept busy. The best chance came in the 80th minute when The Ball is Round’s own Nic Ciardini smashed a shot from the edge of the box against the bar that had the whole of the Jungle “Oooing” in unison.
Sometimes you have to be happy with your lot and sometimes you have to make a change. Today was certainly the former thank goodness unlike the events of twenty years ago.
More pictures from the game can be found here.
Temper, temper you big Knit!
This was going to be quite a weekend. Work decreed that I must go to New York City for a week. Hard life eh? But because I needed to be fresh and ready for action on Monday morning I had to fly on Sunday. And Sunday in mid November in New York means American Football. You either love it or hate it. I was trying to love it. But it does go on a bit. Did that put me off splashing out hundreds of dollars on a ticket for the 82,500 all seater state of the art MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford? Not a chance. I was going with two intentions. Firstly to eat every single type of food that passed my way, and secondly to jump up and down, shouting “Awesome” and high fiving everyone around me. How very British.
But before I could experience the excitement of East Rutherford, I had a small date in East Sussex. Bury Town were making the relative long trip down to Lewes for ANOTHER top of the table clash in the Ryman Premier League. With everyone beating each other, Lewes came into the game in fifth place, but just four points behind leaders Billericay Town. The visitors? Four points behind, so it was another “must win game”.
The original plan was to meet Luge Pravda in New York for the “GridIron” but as luck/fate/whatever would have it, LOGISTICS (an in joke) meant he had to spend the week in London, meaning he could make his long overdue and anticipated debut at the Pan. And if I was going to be running around one of the most modern stadiums in the world like a loon thirty hours later, it was only fair that Luge did the same at The Dripping Pan. Sure, there would be around 82,000 less people at the game, but we made sure every time he went for a Harvey’s, he was asked for ID and everyone wished him a “Nice Day”.
Luge wasn’t the only new visitor to the Pan. David “Hartch” Hartrick had made the journey down from “up north” for some chips without gravy, and some flat larger. Hartch is one third of the legendary website In Bed With Maradona, and the creator of the hottest web property at the moment “500 Reasons To Love Football“. Not bad for a man who cannot find the on button on a computer.
The disappointment of the cup exit to Harlow Town last week was tempered slightly by a real honour for the club. A call out of the blue to the club from the Danish FA on Tuesday saw their Under19′s team arrive at the Pan on Wednesday to use the facilities in preparation for their game against England at Brighton on Thursday. They were suitably impressed with the Pan, leaving USB sticks and pocket torches for all (obvious gifts).
This was to be the battle of the brewing towns. Lewes versus Bury St Edmunds. Harveys versus Greene King. Sussex Best versus IPA. We all knew the winner of that one, but the game on the pitch? A tough call. Bury came to town with ex-Ipswich Town centre forward James Scowcroft in their ranks. But who needs an ex-Premier League centre forward who scored nearly a goal every four games when you have Nic Ciardini.
Ciardini came to the club in the summer, following Steve King from Farnborough. He impressed the LLF in the first outing of the season at St Neots, setting up all three Lewes goals and has continued to work tirelessly since. His finest moment of the season? The two well taken goals in just a few second half minutes to earn a draw away to Tooting & Mitcham United back in September.
He has won favour with the fans because he seems to want to play with a smile on his face. Last week at Harlow a home fan compared him to a “young John Robertson”, the talisman of Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest in the late 1970′s/early 1980′s and today I found myself pre-match handing over The Sussex Express’s Man of the Month trophy to Nic.
Lewes 1 Bury Town 1 – The Dripping Pan – Saturday 12th November 2011
“For more than ten years there’s been peace – everyone to his own patch. We’ve all had it sweet. I’ve done every single one of you favours in the past – I’ve put money in all your pockets. I’ve treated you well, even when you was out of order, right? Well now there’s been an eruption. It’s like fuckin’ Belfast on a bad night. One of my closest friends is lyin’ out there in the freezer. And believe me, all of you, nobody goes home until I find out who done it, and why.” Harold Shand.
Recognise the above quote? It comes from one of my favourite ever films (and one of the BFI’s top 100 of the twentieth century) – The Long Good Friday. Harold Shand is Bob Hoskins. And it is completely irrelevant to this game apart from two factors.
One – Hoskins was born and bred in Bury St Edmunds, and two, he shares his name with the ex-San Francisco 49er Defensive Tackler. And as I was just a few hours away from my NFL debut I thought it would sit quite nicely as an intro.
And so to the game, which has been decreed as the “Big Knit”. Always at the edge of innovation, the wonderful board had arranged for a number of people to knit red and black hats for Rooks (well, actually for Innocent bottles) during the game which were then to be sold off for charity. With the launch this week of the fantastic 500 Reasons To Love Football which we contribute to, here was another entry – people knitting at football.
To be honest during the second half the knitting was the most interesting moments. This was a bore draw, enlightened by one moment of sheer stupidity.
It had all started so well for Lewes. Ciardini, buzzing from receiving the Sussex Express Man of the Month award from yours truly put in a couple of decent crosses. But it was Nicholas who created the opening goal when his cross was dropped by the Bury keeper and Draycott stooped to head home from two yards out.
Corner followed corner as the Rooks piled on the pressure but couldn’t find a way through the defence. One man who seemed to be hell bent on stopping the attacking intent of Nanetti was Daniel Cunningham who flew into a couple of challenges with a bit too much vigour. Unsurprisingly he was booked eventually.
Fifteen minutes into the second half he received a second yellow for not retreating ten yards on a free kick, despite being told twice by the referee to move back. In truth he seemed to be spoiling for a fight all afternoon and as he took world record for the longest time to leave the pitch, the prophetic Mr Last suggested he was on his way to “kick the dressing room door in”…It wasn’t his foot he put through the door, rather his fist. The bill for the damage is in the post Mr Cunningham.
That was really the sum effort of the afternoon. Lewes missed Somner in midfield but Bury game with a plan and executed it perfectly. Autumn had taken a hold and as the mist rolled in across the pitch post match Patrick Marber and myself stood all alone on the Jungle chatting about love, life and the Ryman Premier League. Two points dropped certainly, but we would bounce back.
Sterling work for Saint Nicholas
Black suit – check
White shirt – check
New club tie – check
I was ready. After the false start on Saturday I was making my “proper” debut as a director. I was ready to press the flesh, making small talk with my fellow directors and basically being “directorial”. I have no idea what that means, but I am learning, one small step at a time. Bring on the important decisions about drain cleaning options.
After the 4-0 defeat to AFC Hornchurch on Saturday I was not “gutted”, I was “disappointed”. It was all about the long term sustainability of the club, rather than just results on the pitch. I even understood the terms “Securitisation” for Pete’s sake – that is how much I had learnt in five days!
After banishing my children to the bedroom for joining in the cruel chants of “Sack the board” on Saturday, I told them I was withholding their match fee (pocket money) for a week. As I prepared to leave the house, ready for a full day of communications in London before heading down to Lewes they gave me a letter, addressed to the Direkta (sic) of Lewes FC.
“Dear Direkta. We are sorry that you are angre with us, the fans. We paid our money (No, they got in free!) so we can say what we want, innit. We hope you win tonit so we can have pocket money again. Luv The Little Fullers” I have a feeling there may have been the hand of CMF at work in there somewhere but at least I had some backing once again.
Tonight Lewes welcomed “The Gate” into town for a “must win” game. Of course all games are must win, but after the defeat on Saturday it was essential that the Rooks showed their “bounce-back-ability” as quickly as possible.
Few people know that Margate hold a unique piece of history in non league football. Back in November 1971 they were drawn against Bournemouth (& Boscombe as they were back then) in the FA Cup first round. It turned out to be a red letter day for one particular player, a day that would forever be etched in the history of the Cup. Edward John MacDougall lined up up front for Bournemouth on that day and ended up scoring nine times in a 11-0 win. Margate showed their own bounce-back-ability just twelve months later by reaching the third round of the FA Cup where they lost 6-0 at home to Spurs in front of an amazing 14,000.
So what of the team today? Well, after the heady days as Kent’s premier Non League side during the last decade when they competed in the Conference Premier they found themselves falling foul of the good old ground grading rules (they weren’t actually playing at their own Hartsdown Park due to ongoing redevelopment work) and were forcibly demoted to the first to the Conference South and then again in 2005 to the Isthmian Premier League.
Fifteen years ago I would be rubbing shoulders in the board room with Buster Bloodvessel. At the time the lead singer in Bad Manners owned a hotel in the town called “Fatty Towers” which catered for the “larger than life” guests and he agreed a deal for the group to be the shirt sponsors and in return Douglas Trendle (aka Bloodvessel) was asked on the board.
Arriving at the ground things seemed a bit sparse. Not just in the bar but on the pitch. We could only count a dozen or so players warming up. Club Secretary Kev appeared with the team sheet, showing Lewes had named 14 players, including Christian Nanetti, who wasn’t yet at the ground due to Southern train issues. Welcome to the world of Non League Football.
Lewes 2 Margate 0 – The Dripping Pan – Tuesday 1st November 2011
“Back the board, back the board, back the board” They chanted in unison at the final whistle. No, not the loyal Lewes fans but my two daughters down the phone when I rang to tell them we had won. Perhaps it was also down to the fact we had banished our bad luck omen Legside Lizzy (Five Lewes games attended, one draw, four defeats) or simply that we had been better than a dogged Margate team who arrived at the Pan unbeaten away from home in the league.
Two goals from unlikely sources were the difference between the teams on a distinctly autumnal night. Whilst Lewes had the better of the opening exchanges with King starting with three up front, they had difficultly beating a well marshalled Margate defence. The opening goal came in the 18th minute when full back Dominic Sterling stuck out a toe in a defensive melee and diverted the ball into the back of the net for his first goal in a Lewes shirt. At every game I buy a golden goal ticket (sometimes even treating myself to 2 if I am feeling lucky), and without fail they are always second half times. So far this season at the Dripping Pan only on two occasions has the opening goal come in the second period and one of those I wasn’t there for.
After a chat in the board room at half time about the involvement of Buster at Margate (“Lovely man, salt of the earth. Liked collecting clothes peg dolls“) it was back on the terrace armed with a cup of home-made leek and potato soup. Harvey’s may well be just a stone’s throw away in the Rook Inn, but the sure sign of winter coming is when people swap the pints for the soup. Margate started the brighter of the two sides, stopping the ball getting to the Lewes front three. It was going to take something special to break them down, and that is duly what arrived when George “Bambi” Nicholas won the ball in midfield, looked up Hoddle-style and rifled the ball into the top corner. Bingo.
Nanetti had finally arrived from his railway hell and made an appearance late on, just in time to see the linesman rule out a Curtis Robinson effort for Margate which would have led to some nervous last few minutes. ”We love you Lino, we do” came the chant from the terrace – almost raising a tear to his eye. And who said the Respect campaign was dead.
So three points and back up to third in the league was the reward for an industrious performance. His holiness, Lord Plumpton tweeted me “Congratulations on your first win.Hope you ride home in a jag with a blonde on each arm”…Alas it was Southern trains, with a cold sausage roll and a fat women massaging her corns. Maybe next time Jim.
Et Tu Bute
It had been quite a week for me and Lewes FC. On Thursday morning the first copies of Dripping Yarns rolled off the press and into the shops, and then a few hours later I was voted onto the Board. Unfortunately I was busy dining with the likes of Swiss Ramble, Luge Pravda and of course Sepp Blatter to be at the AGM, but word reached me soon after 9pm that the votes had been counted, and I was to take my place on the board along with two other new nominations. It was one of the proudest moments of my life, up there with my wedding day, the birth of my children and my visit to the Playboy Mansion (Have I not told you about that? Well..DELETED). I celebrated by ordering another beer. I was in one of Zürich’s finest restaurants, and surely now the club would pick up the tab – right? I mean who can begrudge me a beer at only £22.50?
So does this mean I would now have to wear a shirt and tie to games? Do I get my own parking space? An allowance for large cigars and chunky gold chains? The congratulations started flowing in via Twitter and I felt very humbled. All I can say is I will try to serve you the best I can. How would I announce my arrival? I thought about doing a “Knighton” on the pitch at half time to celebrate my new role or simply waving a scarf around my head, but instead opted to stand on the Jungle, pint of Harvey’s in hand like usual.
CMF and the little Fullers agreed to come as well. I had promised Littlest Fuller that there would be cake and that swung it for her. It was of course also an important game as there was a chance that Lewes could end the day top of the league, and that would cap a magical week.
The visitors today were league leaders AFC Hornchurch. The Urchins came into the game having played two more games than Lewes but even still points are what win prizes so they had taken their chance, and I bet most managers would take points in the bag rather than games in hand at this stage of the season. Nobody could have predicted the league would be so tight at this stage of the season, almost a third of the way through. Only 3 points separated Hornchurch at the top and Canvey Island back down in mid-table ninth place. It was no wonder the league lead had changed hands so many times. A win today could see the Rooks top the league – ironically one of the few in that pack of nine who hadn’t yet done so this season.
It was also nice to return to some league action after a three week hiatus. During that period Lewes had progressed in the cup on three fronts. Crawley Down were seen off in the Ryman League Cup, Wick in the Sussex Senior Cup and of course Cray Wanderers in the FA Trophy. An assault on silverware in four competitions was certainly going to stretch the squad, and with outstanding keeper Liam Mitchell back at Notts County (ironically swapping placing with their other keeper Fabien Spiess) it was going to be a hard few weeks with almost two games a week to come.
Hornchurch were such a pull that we also welcomed EFW Octoberfest veteran (with three tours of duty under his belt) Fergie make the trip down from Tranmere just for this game, Legside Lizzy who confessed that she could name every stop in order on the District Line from Richmond to Upminster (and she wonders why she is still single) and Ian King, purveyor of all good things over at TwoHundredPercent.
The game was also part of the celebration of Lewes’s Bonfire celebrations, with many of the crowd coming in their “pirate” outfits, and a promise of a half time penalty shoot out to determine the best society.
I arrived at 2.30pm to shake a few hands and enjoy my first free sausage roll as a director. As I surveyed the scene from the board room I started to get into the mentality of a director. I saw a ball sail over the wall of the ground, knowing now the cost of each such errant shot if we couldn’t recover the ball. I was almost mentally counting each person coming through the turnstile, setting my estimation at 640 for the afternoon.
Lewes 0 AFC Hornchurch 4 – The Dripping Pan – Saturday 29th October 2011
Post match Steve King described this as a “bad day at the office”. A few of the fans on the covered terrace suggested that we had had this coming for a while, whilst a sarcastic few started chanting “sack the board”. Eighty seven minutes into my first game and my head was already being called for. Fortunately I could withhold the spending money from the core of the dissenters.
The first half had been a war of attrition. Speiss had made a wonderful save from Tuony when he was clean through, and Michael Malcolm should have done better in his one on one with the keeper for Lewes. Nanetti, back from his week with Charlton Athletic, showed his aposta qualities with some deft flicks and tricks but over all it was a muted performance. Even Dave Lamb struggled to find anything positive to say about the performance.
The second half was 45 minutes we all want to forget. Two of the softest penalties you could ever ask to see given, both against Steve Robinson allowed Martin Tuony to put the Urchins into a two goal lead before the new Lewes keeper Speiss misjudged a deep cross, allowing the Hornchurch forward to head home. Were Hornchurch three goals better than Lewes? Probably not. They are a big physical team who play with a surprising amount of pace and short passing. They were organised and apart from one or two chances for Booth, Lewes didn’t look like scoring.
The misery was completed when substitute Jonathan Hunt fired in a fantastic free kick from distance in the final few minutes.
So with the chants of “sack the board” ringing around my head from people I called friends, I headed off to the boardroom, my new safe womb with its soundproofing. I enjoyed a cup of tea before a phone call summoned me outside to face the music. Children can be so hurtful.
Lewes don’t have to wait long before they can put things right as Margate come to visit us to Tuesday. Let’s hope it will be enjoyable match for all parties. It should be with banning orders now in place for Messrs King, Last, Ammon and Fuller x 3.
One bad apple
This was supposed to be a happy report. The sun was shining, in fact so much so that it was the hottest October day on record. Lewes were trying to extend their 100% home record and above all it was the club’s 126th Birthday, and to celebrate they had planned a number of events at The Dripping Pan. But it’s not really. Because the actions of a small minority of away fans spoilt afternoon for the rest. To put this in context – the club had to call the police in case things got out of hand, and the club were forced to lock the doors of the bar. Why? Well if you believe certain individuals from Wealdstone, “Because Lewes FC kept the bar open”…unbelievable and funny if it wasn’t true.
One of the reasons why I have virtually turned my back on Premier League/Championship (don’t rub it in please) football was to get away from the type of supporters that we saw towards the end of the Ryman Premier League game this afternoon. I have no idea what caused the small number of Wealdstone fans to react as they did, but whatever it was did it deserve the reaction we saw? Sure the referee may have been wrong to award Lewes the penalty, and I have no idea why he sent off the Wealdstone player, but we all have days like this and 99% of fans never react in a way that causes a problem.
It had all started so differently. The temperatures on the way down to the south coast touched 30 degrees on the car temperature gauge. Sitting in a traffic jam along with thousands of other cars heading for the coast I listened to the feedback on referee Martin Atkinson’s performance in the Merseyside derby. Almost 40,000 fans were up in arms about his actions in the game….Still such hysteria wouldn’t have a home in Non League football, would it?
Every team has famous (or notable) former players. Unfortunately in today’s game so few top players ever started in the Non Leagues. The huge amounts of revenue floating around the game means it is “better value” to buy or import foreign players than give a young non league player a chance. In fact, look around the non league squads today and see how many of the players started off with Premier/Football League teams and released before they even got a sniff of a place on the bench.
There are few teams in the non leagues who can claim as many famous former players as Wealdstone FC, visitors today at The Dripping Pan. If only they could create a time machine and have one or two of them in their team today I doubt they would be playing still in the Ryman Premier League. How about for starters a leader at the back like Stuart Pearce, who played for the club for five seasons whilst working as a plumber back in the glory days of the Alliance Premier League? Or Vinny Jones, who passed Pearce as he was on his way to Coventry City. Fulham fans will obviously know Johnny Haynes who played nearly 600 games for the Cottagers who ended his career at the club. And finally, a current star – Jermaine Beckford, now at Leicester City who scored an impressive 54 goals in 80-odd games for The Stones.
In the years BC (Before Conference), Wealdstone were one of the most feared non league teams in the land. After they rose through the Middlesex and Southern Leagues they reached the hallowed land of the Alliance Premier League. In 1984/85 they claimed the first ever Non League double, beating Boston United at Wembley to win the FA Trophy and then capturing the Gola League (the Alliance Premier League), narrowly pipping Nuneaton Borough, Dartford and Bath City to the title. At the time there wasn’t direct promotion to the Football League, but instead a closed shop vote by the 92 league clubs. Since the creation of the top tier of Non League football Altrincham, Runcorn, Enfield and Maidstone United had tried but failed to gain election. And that list would be joined by Wealdstone. But before they could apply it was deemed their ground was not up to scratch so another dream fell by the wayside.
Today they are firmly at home in the Ryman Premier League, one of the best supported teams in the division. They can even boast an international player, with midfielder Alex Dyer having played for Montserrat against Belize in June 2011.
After the defeat on Monday night to Kingstonian, The Rooks only had their 100% home record to hang their hat on. In fact after the games in midweek they were the only side in the division with this record and so the odds were on another win in front of the loyal Lewes Lunatic Fringe.
Lewes 1 Wealdstone 0 – The Dripping Pan – Saturday 1st October 2011
At the final whistle you would have thought the 740-odd fans would have been celebrating the extension of the 100% home record in the beautiful sunshine. But no, most fans were starring in disbelief that a small number of Wealdstone fans were making their way around the ground to try to confront the referee as he walked up the steps to the dressing room. Fortunately a gate separated them although they still had the opportunity to get their abusive points across. So inflammatory was the situation that the away team’s manager came down to try to calm the fans. It didn’t work and took the sound of police sirens to disperse them, although one of the “mob” appeared to be arrested outside the ground.
I was surprised to hear little shock in the reaction from some of the people I know around the non league game that it had happened in this game. I also witnessed a number of their club officials move from the bench to behind the goal to try to calm matters down in the second half. But to suggest that the whole issue is down to Lewes FC serving alcohol during the game is like suggesting that the reason why someone is really fat is because McDonalds serve burgers or the reason why you are depressed is because you have spent your evening watching Michael McIntyre.
All of these events really put the game in the shade. It is hard to say whether the events on the pitch really fueled those incidents off it, but the referee, Mr Neil, was certainly centre of attention for the most part, perhaps inspired by that performance from Martin Atkinson in the Merseyside derby earlier on.
The first big call came in the 17th minute when he deemed that Ciardini was brought down in the area. Harsh on the defender for certain, but who are we to argue. With normal penalty taker Paul Booth out injured, Nanetti fancied the kick and demanded the ball, but Ciardini was having none of it and he picked himself up, dusted himself down and after the obligatory yellow card for dissent was issued, his trusty left foot made it 1-0.
Wealdstone continued to press and had the better of the exchanges in the remainder of the half, with keeper Liam Mitchell sending out a message to his employers, Notts County, that he is ready for a shot at league football.
Half time saw some cross bar challenge action on the pitch with a number of winners, including manager Steve King’s son, although his prize of a few pint of Harvey’s was soon “looked after” by Mr Marber. We were also being graced by Sarah Flotel again, who brought her son and soon he was attired in a smart new Lewes shirt as well as the head of our Finnish Supporters club, Ville, who had sandwiched a trip to the Pan between two games at White Hart Lane.
The second half saw the players suffer in the ridiculous heat, with Nanetti and debut boy Max Noble proving the difference between the sides. Wealdstone looked the stronger of the two, and with Steve King having limited options available on the bench (only 3 subs named). However, with eight minutes to go the Rooks appeared to get another rub of the green. Peter Dean went up for a challenge with keeper Mitchell. Both players were travelling in the air and with Mitchell reaching for the ball, Dean hit him (fairly in my opinion) in the midrift. Mitchell fell to the floor, the referee pulled out the red card and he was off. The fans behind the goal seemed to think that Mitchell was the guilty party here, getting Dean sent off.
Three minutes later referee Neil was at the centre of attention again, judging Sterling had pushed a Wealdstone player in the area, although it was as soft as the one in the first half. Fortunately Mitchell saved the day, pushing out Richard Jolly’s spot kick much to the annoyance of the Wealdstone fans behind the goal and he became public enemy number one.
After five minutes of injury time, the final whistle was greeted with ugly scenes and a need for the management to call the Police and lock the bar as a precaution. The Wealdstone manager, legendary Gordon Bartlett tried to reason with them but to little avail.
There is little more to say about the game apart from this. The celebratory mood had disappeared and the cake was left uneaten. I am sure the story will roll on for a few more days but for now we headed home, sad that a day could have been spoilt in such a way.
More pictures from an eventful afternoon can be found here.
leave a comment