MARINE? THAT COULD BE US!
FA to investigate bizarre events
Twenty years. That’s how long Marine are reportedly bankrolled for following their remarkable FA Cup run. And good luck to them. Under the stewardship of Chester legend Neil Young, their journey captured the imagination of the public, not to mention their wallets, with tens of thousands buying virtual tickets for the Spurs tie, quite literally money for nothing as the game was broadcast live on the BBC. Millions tuned in for a memorable occasion, and a joyous reminder of the magic of the cup.
It’s a game that should never have taken place. In the fourth qualifying round away to my club Chester, with ten minutes to go, the ball was drilled into a Blues defender. The ref ruled it handball and the subsequent penalty was duly dispatched. To add insult to injury, a perfectly good equaliser was ruled out in the dying embers of the match and Marine progressed.
Reader, it should have been us. Sour grapes? Or sliding doors? Another referee may have seen things differently and it would have been The Seals who progressed to Colchester, where we have FA Cup form. Havant & Waterlooville up next – neither of whom have ever beaten us – then we’re welcoming Spurs to The Deva. The city is abuzz, Bernard and Jonno are back on the box, the coffers are boosted, and we use the windfall to win National League North. Kicking on the next season, we put together back-to-back titles and resume our rightful place in the Football League, meaning you never have to hear from me again.
But that’s not how football – or life – works. Not to get too deep into chaos theory on a Sunday morning, but life is largely a series of random events, and football is a microcosm of life. I was thinking about this recently while revisiting the sorry tale of Terry Smith for the current issue of FourFourTwo magazine.
To cut a long story short, the eccentric American bought Chester City, made himself manager and subsequently delivered NonLeague football for the first time in most supporters’ lives. Apparently, one of the things that attracted Smith to Chester was the zoo. He liked the penguins so much he bought the club. If only he’d been a fan of massive floodlights, he might have bought Wrexham instead! Conversely, 20 years on, if Deadpool’s third dart had landed on our side of the border, maybe we’d have sold our soul to Hollywood. But here we are, playing regional football as a reformed fan-owned club. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I still sometimes think of myself as a fan of Third Division Chester City. However, some rudimentary maths reveals that almost half my supporting tenure has been in Non-League, once an unthinkable abyss. It has been, and continues to be, an experience, and one that is rarely dull. While you obviously want to play at the highest possible level, when we did briefly return to the League it was slightly underwhelming to find myself back at Mansfield being told to sit down. Non-League is arguably a more varied tour, an idiosyncratic potter round the backwaters of this sceptred isle. To be honest, at the moment I’d take anything. It has been almost a full year since my last proper match, a belting day out at York City in front of a massive away following at Bootham Crescent, which has now finally closed its gates for the last time, a heartbreaking experience for any fan.
How long until we see full stadiums again is anyone’s guess, but if the season were to be curtailed it would be a result of gross mismanagement at the highest level. And also a huge waste of my valuable viewing time, and money. Apart from one non-televised cup tie, I have watched every minute of every match this season, a feat only surpassed when I did the full card in the 201617 season, as recalled in my debut book, The Card.
It was an absolute slog at the time, but in retrospect it’s a chronicle of a magical era when you could simply travel where you wanted. Streaming is good, yes, but it’s not right. Anyway, it was never a pen…
Wall Of Sport by Steve Hill is published by Ockley Books and is out now!
PAUL COX was left to reflect on “the most bizarre night of football in his career” after his EIGHT-MAN Kettering Town side crashed out of the FA Trophy at Leamington in a match which didn’t finish until 11.22pm!
The tie was switched to Leamington’s Community Stadium and flared up inside 11 minutes when Poppies captain Michael McGrath was shown two quick yellow cards after he was involved in an ugly confrontation with referee Adrian Quelch.
Kettering were already behind to Danny Waldron’s first-minute opener and they paid the price for their numeric disadvantage as further goals from Jack Edwards and Jack Lane put the Brakes in firm control.
But the game was plunged into chaos at half-time when the floodlights failed and, after a near two-hour wait for Western Power to turn up to fix the issue, the second half finally got under way just after 10.30pm.
Although they conceded no more goals, the Poppies let their frustrations get the better of them with Connor Kennedy and Connor Johnson both being sent-off for two bookable offences as they eventually finished the game with just eight men.
“It became bizarre and I have never experienced a night of football like this in my entire career as a player or a manager,” Cox told the Northamptonshire Telegraph. “We have hung around for the best part of two hours and half of our players were dressed when the referee came in and said the lights would be going on ‘soon’.
“So we gave it another 10 minutes and another 10 minutes but it got to the point where the referee had to seek advice from the FA and they insisted the game had to be played on the night. In this day and age, that was forgetting about human beings and safety issues.”
The FA confirmed they are investigating the incidents with a spokesman reading: “The FA is aware of a number of reported incidents at Kettering Town v Leamington in the FA Trophy and will be looking into them.”
Shootout
Southport continued a week of FA Trophy upsets after knocking out National League FC Halifax Town 2-1 at The Shay.
Liam Watson’s National League North Sandgrounders went in front on 10 minutes, only for Jack Earing to equalise soon after.
And the giant-killing was sealed midway through the second half with Adam Anson the man on target with a fantastic turn and strike.
Stamford’s brave run came to an end as they slipped to a 2-0 home defeat to Hereford, who finished the match with nine men.
Tom Owen-Evans netted either side of two second-half red cards for teammates Ben Pollock and Luke Haines but the Bulls held on to dent the Daniels’ dreams.
Big winners of the night were Torquay United, who impressively saw off fellow National League promotion chasers Boreham Wood with a fab finale at Meadow Lane.
Asa Hall put the Gulls in front six minutes into the second half before three goals in the space of five minutes from Billy Waters, Adam Randell and Connor Lemonheigh-Evans sealed their passage into the last 16.
Aldershot Town resisted a strong second-half comeback from Solihull Moors to edge a five-goal thriller at the EBB Stadium. Mo Bettamer’s penalty and a Toby Edser strike put the Shots in control at the break, only for Kyle Hudlin and Jimmy Ball to pull Moors level. Bettamer, however, wasn’t to be denied, netting a free-kick winner 16 minutes from time.
Next for the Shots is a home tie with Chesterfield after they saw off Boston United in a penalty shootout on Wednesday night. The teams were locked at 1-1 in regulation time – Scott Garner’s opener for Boston cancelled out by Haydn Hollis.
Penalties were also needed to separate Woking and National League rivals Bromley after a 1-1 draw at Hayes Lane. Michael Cheek’s penalty for the Ravens was levelled by Max Kretzschmar two minutes later – Woking progressing 7-6 in the shootout.
Wealdstone put their name in the hat on Monday night after they sauntered to a 3-1 win over Gloucester City with Alex Dyer, Moses Emmanuel and Danny Green on the scoresheet – Jack Burroughs replying for City with a 30-yard screamer.