While everyone and all of their dogs were watching the dying embers of The Real FA Cup, we were in Sutton getting back to Ryman business.

Over the last few years we’ve become a bit partial to Ryman action, most of the teams are enjoyable to watch and there are usually enough fans to generate a bit of atmosphere. 570 today! And you rarely pay more than a tenner. The Premier Ryman is often as good a footballing VFM as you’ll get in England but the modernists and football elitists want to drive a stake between this level and the European Money Leagues.

We’ve mentioned elsewhere how goal line technology is unnecessary. This is not necessarily because of any misty-eyed longing to keep the game as it is but, simply, because so few game-changing decisions warrant this draconian technology. There are only a handful of games per season where this tech would lead to a fairer result – and fewer where it would affect the outcome of a tournament. In the grand scheme of things, bad offside decisions, dodgy penalties and sendings off change games unfairly more frequently but yet no one seems to want to sort them out with video technology.

However, any new form of technology is only ever going to be applied to the games that have TV cameras present and, even then, there would need to be an extra two at least. But there is already a technology gap between the leagues at top and further down and that doesn’t need widening because it could easily create two tiers of football, rather than a pyramidal system.

The technology gap we’re talking about refers to electronic scoreboards. Huh? How is that a problem, I hear you cry? Well, this is why …

Despite the three goals, the first half of this game was engaging without being particularly entertaining. Sutton had the vast majority of possession but didn’t create much, which was partly down to the paucity of final ball but mostly down to some staunch defending.

Arsene Wenger would have accused Wealdstone of playing anti-football and, while on one level it is an annoying way to set about a game of football, you can’t really criticise a mid-table team at least starting out in this manner when away at the league leaders. It doesn’t provide much entertainment though.

Fair play, the game plan worked perfectly because Wealdstone troubled Scriven in the Sutton goal on just two occasions and scored both times, after which the game started to open up a bit. The Stones grew in confidence while Sutton’s desperation to get more men forward was leaving gaps that went unpunished thanks to a few unnecessary offsides. This new Stones adventure, ironically, led to the game saving goal at the other end that meant the second half would be more of a game. A looping header from Forbes on 44 minutes pleasingly slipped in off the underside of the bar.

HT – Sutton United 1 Wealdstone 2

Having already crammed in two pre-journey pints and one pre-match pint, we decided to cram in one half time pint. We did so unsuccessfully and missed the first few minutes of the second half. And here is where it all went horribly and amusingly wrong and amateurish thanks to the lack of technology. We could pretend this didn’t happen but why the hell should we? We aren’t the BBC.

The second half continued in the same vein and with an hour gone James Hammond diverted a harmless cross back towards his own goal to where he must have thought his keeper was. He wasn’t and the ball trundled into the corner. 2-2 and Wealdstone were now in a spot of bother.

Wealdstone were now defending for their lives trying to hold on to the point but were keeping Sutton’s waves at bay. Sutton’s forays were getting closer and closer as they committed more players and they almost paid when, over-committed, gave the ball to Spendlove who broke clear, drew the keeper and opted for the chip that appeared to be goal-bound before it just bounced past the post. That would have been game over.

Sutton’s now hopeful punts and long shots were going out for goal kicks but as injury time neared their accuracy increased and they were rewarded with a corner. It looked like Stones would hold out, they were defending well and were getting the luck. The corner was cleared and the second cross was headed on to the post by Dundas but when it looked like they’d escaped again Downer turned in the rebound to send the Sutton fans mad.

With that we started heading towards the bar and just as we got to the tunnel we witnessed Sutton sealing the deal. The players seemed to go unusually bonkers for what was a sealer rather than a winner but we left them to it and went to get to the front of the beer queue.

Having sat around chatting and watching Jeff for 10 minutes we overheard someone referring to the fantastic 4-3 win. We frowned a little and assumed he was referring to some other game somewhere. It turns out he wasn’t. With the slight delay in getting back out we’d missed the goal of the game, a 47th minute rasper from Spendlove after cutting in from the left.

So, the game was actually 4-3, not 4-2 and all of a sudden things started to make sense. The ten minutes we spent talking to a less than enthusiastic Sutton fan could be explained by the fact that it wasn’t a tense 1-2 but a rather less hopeful 1-3. The celebration being greater for the last minute last goal than for the penultimate goal was explained by the fact that it was not the 4-2 sealer but the 4-3 winner!

Incidentally, we also missed the shenanigans at the celebration of that goal. Apparently, the Sutton players went mad and allegedly goaded the Stones fans.

However, had Sutton had access to some modern technology in the form of an electronic scoreboard, these misunderstandings would never have happened. Before FIFA start pfaffing around with goal line technology, or even offside/sending off/penalty technology, they need to spend some of the GAZILLIONS of $$$$$ they made from the World Cup in supplying all league affiliated clubs with an electronic scoreboard so that the lazy amateurs like us don’t get stuff wrong. Thankfully, the brilliant visionary that is Sepp Blatter is railing against this technology that will create a further divide between the haves and heave nots.

<sarcasm:off>

There may be a story to be had on the amount of added time the ref stuck on in order for the final goal to be scored. Maybe he added 3 extra minutes because we missed 3? [smile]  Some comments were made on Twitter by a few Stones players but they were deleted before we saw and we only heard stuff second or third hand at the end of the game. So don’t ask us to expand on it because we don’t know – and we’re not just fence sitting. It is fair to say Sutton players were ‘chuffed’ at the end but they perhaps deserved their final two goals as little as the Stones deserved their first two. Both situations were football muggings.

Aside from that, Wealdstone’s gaffer being accidentally pole-axed by a sliding tackle and Jenny The Giraffe getting busy with some fans were highlights of a decent enough game but one that didn’t quite take off as much as the scoreline would suggest. Although given we missed the good bits, maybe others thought it did!

At the end of the game we Tweeted “We thought it was 4-2, apparently we missed a goal, 4-3 to Sutton.”  We got some stick for amateurism and here are a selection of the printable responses our error generated:

@therealfacup you guys!

Top notch as ever RT @therealfacup: We thought it was 4-2, apparently we missed a goal, 4-3 to Sutton.

@therealfacup gotta love football without electronic scoreboards.

@therealfacup Ouch, the scoreline made the game what it was! Which goal did you miss? There were 2 at around 20-30 mins then 1 in 2nd half.

@therealfacup How the heck did that happen? Doh!

Massive thanks as ever to Gerard at Sutton, helpful chappy.

Another of our local sides, Sutton, boasted a bumper crowd 200 up on the average, Fisher Athletic’s crowd was up 60%, Wealdstone’s up 25% and zeitgeist club Lewes netted their 2nd highest turn out in the last year. A few clubs reported dwindling crowds or no change but, hey, not everyone can win!

As ever, Twitter hummed with excitement about Non League Day, it started trending in a number of locales around England. Just stick ‘nonleagueday’ into the search and read all hundreds if not thousands of tweets all bigging up the day, giving goal action, quirks and photos from the games and, afterwards, links to match reports.

Some choice favourites of mine express why Non League Day was and should always have been a success. @monfter got to the crux of it, “Enjoyed my #nonleagueday at Maine Road v Ramsbottom. £10 for entry, prog, pie & drink. I’ll be back for game v New Mills. @non_league_day” @DolphinHotel captured the very real comments of players leaving the field “@non_league_day Birtley Town player at #nonleagueday: “It’s the first time in Birtley’s history we’ve had any fans.”"

Benevolent Scotland fans, waiting for connecting flights back home after returning to Gatwick from Lithuania, got into the spirit and popped over the road from the airport to catch Crawley .v. Fleetwood. On a similar tack, @LesRosbifs “Got sick of traffic on North Circular and M25, so peeled off and caught Egham Town 3 Epsom & Ewell 1. Enjoyable for me & kids. #nonleagueday”. Opportunist.

Then there were the jealous few who too late realised they’d missed out on something, @hyllandinho said “Wish I’d got involved in @non_league_day #nonleagueday; bike ride was good but I like these initiatives! Will look for some Sunday fixtures”

The attitude to Non League Day by all and sundry cannot be underestimated, so much positive energy coming from those thoroughly behind the initiative and from those who were turned on to lower league football. From the off, the excellent BBC @nonleagueshow got right behind it. Football legends 200% gave us all the low down and, on the day, @itvfootball‘s @jamesappell made sure they RT’d scores and kept people in the loop. John Terry apparently showed up at Eastbourne and Jonathan Pearce turned up at Lewes, well, who hasn’t turned up at the Dripping Pan recently? Except us.

Of course, Non League Day wouldn’t be a non league day without one condescending supporter of a big club. With apparent lack of irony and self awareness, @ManUtd24 shows the world exactly what sort of fans the big clubs have* “Inform me of the FC United score today, guys. Trying to look like I care…#nonleagueday” Charming and nothing less than we’d expect.

A big thanks to James Doe @non_league_day for giving the country his idea and to everyone for getting behind it. When’s the next one? And thanks to the Tweeters mentioned above for making sure I could look back in anguish.

*A sweeping and unjustified conclusion based on one Tweet. Well, it served a purpose. Apols to @ManUtd24 if his/her sarcasm has been missed.

Assuming there are going to be two teams relegated, which might change depending on FA tinkering elsewhere in the pyramid, there is one place left to be filled and three teams with their spades out trying to fill the hole before they fall into it. At the other end, Dartford’s Darts have already hit bull and Sutton have secured a play off place, while only an unlikely set of results can stop Kingstonian doing the same. But, there are no fewer than five teams fighting for the two remaining places, six if the unlikely set of results occurs. Very unlikely.

So, what’s the deal? Well …

18. Maidstone United P40 – 45 (-19)
19. Ashford Town (Middlesex) P41 – 44 (-14)
20. Margate P41 – 42 (-23)
21. Bognor Regis Town P40 – 41 (-17)
22. Waltham Abbey P41 – 41 (-26)

Waltham Abbey are already down, despite last night’s stirring 4-1 victory over Bognor, which was a shot in the arm for Margate. On Thursday Bognor visit Maidstone and if the home side win then Margate’s destiny is in their own hands. If Bognor win then Maidstone can still go down. Win or lose on Thursday, the problem for Bognor, as well as being owed several hundred quid by Premier Lge money pit, Pompey, is that their final game is against the runaway Champions. The problem for Margate is that they are playing Hastings who, regardless of Thursday’s results at the other end of the table, are still very much in the hunt for a play-off place.

The other team who come into the equation are Ashford Town (Mx). They do have the good fortune to be up against a Harrow Borough team who are effectively on their mid table summer holidays and even if Bognor lose to Maidstone then they are really just an exhibition match point from virtual safety.

At the top the permutations are, frankly, baffling and Thursday’s fixtures might not even give clarity.

1. Dartford P40 – 87 (53)
2. Sutton United P41 – 72 (19)
3. Kingstonian P41 – 67 (4)
4. Boreham Wood P41 – 65 (9)
5. Aveley P40 – 64 (17)
6. Hastings United P41 – 63 (13)
7. Tonbridge Angels P40 – 62 (5)
8. Wealdstone P41 – 62 (2)
9. AFC Hornchurch P41 – 61 (5)

Borehamwood and Aveley are in pole position for the final two spots at the moment but two games on Thursday night could confirm or change that. Aveley are away at Horsham and the Angels away at Wealdstone, the latter game is pretty much make or break for both sides. If Aveley win and Tonbridge and Wealdstone share the spoils then Kingstonian and Aveley are in the pay offs. The final spot then becomes Borehamwood’s to lose and leaves Hastings, Tonbridge and Wealdstone hoping they slip up.

If Aveley draw at Horsham tomorrow night that probably doesn’t change things much but if they lose that will let the winners, if there is a winner, of Wealdstone v Tonbridge through the gate. In that event either one would be a point ahead of Aveley meaning that the final spot would be theirs to lose. If whichever team wins on Thursday night also wins on the final day then there will be nothing Aveley can do about it. If Tonbridge beat Wealdstone on the other hand, Wealdstone are almost out of it because they are 7 goals worse off than Borehamwood and at least 4 worse than Tonbridge, even if the Stones do win their final game.

So, permutations galore but the bottom line is that, on Thursday, there are two MASSIVE RPL games. Only Wealdstone can kiss goodbye to their play-off hopes with defeat and only Aveley can seal theirs with victory but if Aveley and Borehamwood win their remaining games then no one can catch them. Whatever the outcome, the final day of the Ryman Premier League is going to be a corker.

Based purely on our previous enjoyable encounters with clubs in the RPL, we’d like to wish Ashford and Margate good luck in avoiding the dreaded drop. We’d also like to wish Sutton good luck in the play offs and Hastings and Wealdstone good luck in getting into them, although in reality we realise it’s unlikely to be both! But, regardless, who ever gets there, they will have deserved it … just about! Who we’re going to be supporting if they all get there is a different matter. We’ll cross that bridge …

OK folks, this season’s Real FA Cup is officially over. Curtains. The last non-league side is out … and few genuinely small clubs remain, in fact only Notts County really, if they still exist when you read this. We’ll keep an eye on the rest of the tournoi, and might even comment, but that is essentially it for us for this season so it’s time to find out who this year’s winners are and celebrate the season that was.

Winning is most definitely relative in our world, of course, but who are this year’s FA Cup winners? Well, we are, AHHHHH, as you good, good people have ‘hit’ us nearly 18,000 times since August! 400 of you even follow our additional ramblings on Twitter. And 1200 of you took the time to vote in our polls over the course of the season (yes, we’re surprised at that amount too), although in this round of voting most of you appear to have been Wealdstone or Ilkeston fans. Ah well, such is the problem with online Polls.

We wish we had some rosettes, a stage and a guest speaker for this bit. If we did, our rosettes would be blue, our stage would be at salubrious music venue the Borderline and our guest speaker would be Dartford’s Camp Café Host (see Darts/Clarets match report) LINK HERE

Best Player: This was a fairly well populated category, a number of players have caught our wandering and fickle eye. Sanchez Ming of Dulwich Hamlet was our MoM against Sevenoaks, although clearly not his manager’s as he only made the bench for the replay. Marcel Jones of Enfield 1894 impressed us against Broxbourne with his dancing feet. Jack King of Farnborough, Ryan Ashe of Wealdstone and Danny Forrest of Crawley all impressed with, respectively, their style, passing and energy. Actually, all of them could also get the nod for their shooting and reading of the game. Sam Duncum of Ilkeston deserves more than a mention for scaring the bejaysus out of Cambridge defenders, even when his team were second best for large chunks of the game.

For us, however, Danny Kedwell of AFC Wimbledon probably put in the best all round shift that we saw during the Cup run, rarely does one man’s performance and effort epitomise a team’s but his did. However, Danny only came third in the online poll while the winner garnered 52% of the vote to second place Sam Duncum’s 39%. The winner scored two cracking goals against then League 2 high flyers Rotherham and we’re overjoyed to announce that Wealdstone playmaker and all round good guy, Ryan Ashe, is the 2010 Real FA Cup Player Of The Season!

Best Game: This wouldn’t have been easy for us to choose because we saw quite a few good games, to be fair. Enfield and Broxbourne gave us some great passing that belied their status in the pyramid. Ashford Town (Middx) and Hendon served up a corking finale and penalty shoot out. Farnborough and Hastings was a great summery day out and quite a battle. Dartford and Chelmsford was a funny, drunken day out but with the added bonus of a cracking game, loads of goals and a ridiculous missed sitter. The aforementioned Danny Kedwell served up a treat at Kingsmeadow where Crawley should have been 2 goals to the good but then got humped by ten man AFC in the second half.

But the award goes to the team who managed to mobilise the most fans to vote, again, we said cynically but with tongue in cheek. It was a very decent game, it had a good atmosphere, it had as many fans as you are likely to see down the Vale, it had some cracking goals, a cameraman perched on the roof and a sublime chip from Real FA Cup interviewee and Player Of The Season, Ryan Ashe. What more could you want? A cupset would have been nice but let’s not be picky. 2010 Real FA Cup Game Of The Season is Wealdstone 2 Rotherham 3.

A few more esoteric awards before we go on. Best Ice Cream goes to Farnborough, so big we took a photo of it and it’s become our most linked-to photo via Google!?!? Best Miss goes to Rob Edmans of Chelmsford City, so bad we devoted a whole article to it. Best Burger was at Wembley FC, so cheap we thought it was wrong – and it was served by the oldest couple we’ve ever seen working a football tea bar. Fair play to you folks. Weirdest question goes to the hooded chav in Dartford who asked us if we were actors. Oddly, one of us is.

Best Ground: We have loved Dulwich Hamlet’s main stand and massive bar for a couple of years now, we enjoyed the ambience and tradition of Hampton & Richmond Borough’s quaint and homely patchwork stands (not to mention its local boozers) and we were intrigued by the big ideas of Farnborough’s electronic scoreboard and massive new stand. We were also baffled by Sevenoaks’ strange see through fence and overlooking hill that rendered paying entry almost pointless for anyone wanting to watch the game. We did pay, though. We foolishly left in an ‘other’ option on this vote and feared an influx of Wealdstone fans might swing this one too but, no, only the enthusiastic Ilkestonites chose to big up their New Manor Ground. But it wasn’t enough.

As a model of how to go about building a new non-league ground, it is our opinion that you cannot get much better than a ground that provides basic shelter for proles and toffs alike, has an iconic piece of artwork, a quote from Big Ron, a decent bar and a good view. The ground might have been built with a bit of money but the club and architects did not just go for size, they also made sure it packed in some enviro cred and some decent aesthetics for the whole crowd. The winner, of course, is the much vaunted Princes Park, home of Dartford FC. This would have been our choice too so congrats.

That’s three quarters of the Polls catered for, only one left. But there are a few other mentions we think are deserved. These are not necessarily teams who we’ve seen but teams who have been talking points in the wider football community over the course of the early FA Cup rounds. Firstly, we have to mention Paulton Rovers. They got a fair way in glorious fashion before serving themselves up as fodder for the Canary revival. Staines deserve a mention for running Millwall close and Northwich similarly for slaying Charlton. Both these teams provided some mid season cheer for fans and pundits alike. A final thought for Ashford Town of Middlesex who not only suffered the agony of FA Cup penalty defeat to Hendon but also suffering another shoot out defeat only a week later, grim!

There were also quite a few teams who went a long way, in relative terms. A few managed to play in 4 or 5 rounds of the FA Cup and, although there are a few teams who could better that in the continuing FA Cup, the odds on Leeds or Southampton getting to the semi finals are, we would have thought, fairly slim. The eventual winner of the FA Cup will have played in 6 rounds and it is well worthwhile putting the 6 round achievement in context. Two teams have already done that so, in all ways but lifting the actual cup or beating the best teams in the country, heh, two teams have already ‘won’ the Cup. Lowestoft Town started in the Preliminary Round and got to the 1^st Round proper for the first time in 32 years, where they only just lost to Wrexham. Belying the notion that the Cup is dead, Lowestoft’s attendances outmuscled their league attendances in every round except the Preliminary Round, a stage they’ve passed in 6 of the last 7 seasons so maybe the fans are getting a bit laissez faire about it. In the 3rd qualifying round they tripled their average attendance and it was around double for most of the run!

Actually, Lowestoft share this magnificent honour with another team who played in 6 rounds but this team played in more games and also have the distinction of being the last team to get knocked out who started right from the very start in the Extra Preliminary Round. This team didn’t really endear themselves to us early on – and indeed us to them. Firstly, we got them confused with the Mighty Ducks, our honest, careless, preview mistake. SORRY. Then we laughed at their central defender who had a hilariously bandaged head before the game had even started. During the game they were dogged but unconvincing and got out of jail with a barely deserved late equaliser. We then bottled traversing the Chilterns and the Aylesbury Vale to get to the replay, which we still regret.

Aylesbury started the FA Cup at the same time we did, at the very start, and got to the heady heights of the 4^th Qualifying round, so we now have a soft spot for them. They got further than any other team except Lowestoft and played 9 (Nine) games, which is unlikely to be beaten in this year’s Cup. As much as any team in this tournament will win the cup, Aylesbury can perhaps quantitatively say, they have already.

Most Helpful Club: This is perhaps a wishy washy award but also a qualitative counterpoint to the quantitative win of Aylesbury. Our winners here are a very lowly side but, before we get to them, a special mention must go to Howard Krais and Wealdstone, Andy Walker and Wembley and AFC Wimbledon. But, for amusingly pandering to our burgeoning ego by describing us as ‘media partners’, and for being encouraging, helpful and generous, this accolade goes specifically to Martyn Guest. and Richard Mann but more generally to BASILDON UNITED!

I am, myself, going to vomit as I tell you that all these teams, fans and players are WINNERS of this year’s real FA Cup. [wipes bile from lips] It’s true though, all of these things mean the Cup is great. They involve, largely, experiences we could not have had at Premier or Championship games, nor, most likely, at League 1, 2 or Blue Square Premier games. However, objectively, we have noted, you have voted and, overall, your team of the tournament winners are:

1. Wealdstone 53%
2. Aylesbury 27%
3. Lowestoft Town 7%
4. Forest Green Rovers 4%

That is more or less it from us on the FA Cup for this season, the ingrates of the top two tiers can have their version of the Cup, the one they think is devalued, the one they have devalued, yet the one they think they own. We say ‘they’ but it is also ‘their’ fans and the hacks who do it down. It’s also us and other fans. We all seem to moan about viewing unglamorous ties, yet fans don’t turn up when Premier Lge plays Premier Lge. Even when there is an upset these days (Reading over Liverpool, Leeds over Man Utd), the media emphasis is always on the failings of the higher team, it is very rare that the achievement of the underdog is celebrated. It MUST be the failure of the ‘better’ team.

As self-righteous and pompous as that most obviously is, without the teams from the top two tiers the Cup would arguably be nothing. They are the teams that the non-league teams strive to face. However, what THEY constantly forget is that without the little teams the FA Cup is just the Carling Cup – and THEY wouldn’t want that now, would THEY? Without the big boys the FA Cup is just the FA Trophy or FA Vase and the little guys wouldn’t want that, would they?

The Real FA Cup Awards 2010.

The Nominations Are: Click Link For All Polls

Best Player:
Sanchez Ming – Dulwich Hamlet
Marcel Jones – Enfield 1893
Ryan Ashe – Wealdstone
Jack King – Farnborough
Danny Forrest – Crawley
Danny Kedwell – AFC Wimbledon
Sam Duncum – Ilkeston

Best Game:
Broxbourne Borough V&E 1 Enfield 1893 4
Ashford Town (Mx) 2 Hendon 2 (9-8 on pens)
Farnborough 2 Hastings 1
Dartford 1 Chelmsford City 4
AFC Wimbledon 2 Crawley Town 1
Wealdstone 2 Rotherham 3

Best Ground: This one is not easy either.
Champion Hill – Dulwich Hamlet
Princes Park – Dartford
Beveree Stadium – Hampton & Richmond Borough

Most Helpful Club:
Wembley
Basildon United
Wealdstone
AFC Wimbledon
Sevenoaks

Team Of The Tournament:
Lowestoft Town
AFC Wimbledon
Tooting & Mitcham United
Aylesbury
Wealdstone
Enfield 1893
Forest Green

We’ve got our own ideas who should win but we want your suggestions too, we’ve been to lots of games but they are only a tiny fraction of games played.  So, leave comments here, email us at the address on the home page or Tweet us your opinion, we’ve already had a couple of suggestions …

Everton: Tweeter grandoldteam argued that the Toffees should win it “Because of our run last season (Liverpool, Villa, Man Utd en route…) only to fall at the last hurdle.” While we all would have fancied that being the actual result, it is still last season. Sorry, no.

Stoke City: Ilkeston Town fan @ilson_fan reasoned that the winners should be “Stoke. They beat York who beat Cambridge who beat the mighty Ilkeston so they must be REALLY good!”  That is compelling but we can’t have a Premier Lge team winning The Real FA Cup.

So what do we want you to bear in mind, who has been the nicest, most helpful club, who’s had the best team, scored the best goals, embodied the FA Cup spirit, had the best sense of humour, perhaps it was where you simply had the best day out, maybe it’s the team who has played the most games or got the furthest from where they started, or perhaps you think your local team should win?  Whichever of these is your reason, let us know and we’ll consider it.

Yes, we know that Forest Green are still in the Cup, we know there are some League 1 sides still in but they are going to have to go some to have the impact that some already have and, frankly, the mainstream coverage of the tournament is getting quite depressing. The Real has gone, hyperreal has arrived.  Obviously, we’re looking to our non-league followers to step up to the plate here but our short list is:

AFC Wimbledon | Aylesbury | Basildon Utd |Chelmsford City | Dartford | Lowestoft Town | Sutton Utd | Tooting & Mitcham | Wealdstone |

Who else should be on it – and why?

Thanks to our little chat with Ashy earlier in the week and the few League two sides dumped out of the cup on Saturday, we were rather looking forward to this. The pre-match atmosphere around the Stones relatively new home did nothing to quell this. The locals were excited and we met a few Rotherham fans, erring on caution with predictions given recent form but reasonably confident of avoiding the proverbial banana skin

Partly thanks to averageness of height and partly because of the decision not to get a seated ticket we struggled to get a meaningful view of much of the early action. It’s obviously difficult to cater for 1600+ fans with a ground set up for a 1000 less than that and with little banked standing room. That said, the officiousness of the presumably non-regular stewards who had been drafted into the match perhaps didn’t help. On with the cliches.

The cameraman was on the roof and he got an early touch of the ball from a Wealdstone clearance. One could lazily depict the opening exchanges with analogy to the Haye/Valuev fight, both the big man and the smaller but potent challenger swapping some tentative jabs. A promising underdog move snuffed out with a clearance from a weak shot after a nifty backheel on the Wealdstone left.

The lino was getting some light hearted banter thanks to some questionable offside calls and a slight resemblance to Ashley off of that Eastenders. Wealdstone enjoyed some good spells of pressure, they showed no signs of being overawed and no signs of being out of their depth. Rotherham had a few corners but they were dealt with well and Wealdstone had a questionable penalty turned down. The partisan crowd were convinced but we didn’t see enough of it to tell.

Inevitably in such situations the League side broke the deadlock with some outrageous fortune. Thomas in the Wealdstone goal tried to clear a backpass, got his angles slightly wrong and hit the advancing Le Fondre, off whom it returned past the unfortunate ‘keeper and into the goal. We thought it was an arse goal and shocking bad luck for the home side. An undeserved lead for the away side.

Wealdstone 0 Rotherham 1

The Wealdstone lads did not let their heads drop and they passed the ball around as neatly as their more illustrious opponents, if not more so on occasion. They had a shot blocked and some through balls didn’t quite find their target. They did ride their luck too, surviving a penalty box free kick given, we think, for Thomas collecting a back pass.

Rotherham had probably only created 3 or 4 half chances, the next one however was a rasping drive from Ellison that Thomas could not get anywhere near. 2-0 Rotherham and it was a bit harsh on the Ryman Premier side. An error and a class finish was all that separated the teams at the interval.

HT Wealdstone 0 Rotherham 2

It was ruddy cold but the sun had come out. Pies – sold out. Burgers – sold out. Chips. Hotdogs. Nice chips. Some people moved at half time and we managed to settle down to the second half with a view.

The Stones came out with some purpose, which was good because they had some work to do and they had showed they were capable of causing the Lge 2 promotion challengers some problems. Undaunted, the sparring continued but there was more urgency about both sides, particularly the home side. The game ebbed and flowed.

Wealdstone attacked with purpose and from a ball across the box, Ryan Ashe unleashed a volley that Old Man Warrington in the Rotherham goal had no chance with. Warrington had been getting a few comments about his age, he did look old, although the programme suggested otherwise.

Wealdstone 1 Rotherham 2

Wealdstone were having some good moments and seemed to have unsettled the Rotherham defence since half time. E’Beyer shot just past the post. Was that the chance? There was still pressure so maybe not.

Rotherham finally broke out and a rash challenge brought them respite in the home side’s half. A free kick was floated into the box and Broughton flicked a deft header past Thomas. That was surely it.

Wealdstone 1 Rotherham 3

Wealdstone had other ideas. They piled on the pressure and the home fans drove them on. There were a few half chances and some tension in the Rotherham defence but they just couldn’t find a way through and were running out of time. After a bit of pin ball the ball fell to Ashe on the right of the box, he turned inside leaving the defender behind and floated a ball over the keeper into the corner. Another cracking goal from our favourite Wealdstone player.

Wealdstone 2 Rotherham 3

Was the equaliser on? We moved right up the end the Stones were attacking, the refs assistant had apparently signalled 4 mins and it was looking unlikely. Rotherham may well have been three leagues above but they had to fight for this. In the last couple of minutes a shot went narrowly past the post and Stones had a corner or two that caused some ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ among the nervous home fans but the ball just wouldn’t go in. A valiant effort but not quite enough.

FT Wealdstone 2 Rotherham 3

Rotherham were a bit fortunate and the Wealdstone fans had played their part in attempting to overcome the odds. It was an impressive performance from the Ryman side but wasn’t quite enough this time. Nevertheless, Gordon Bartlett’s tactics were good and his team did him proud. It was perhaps enough to put 10-20% on Wealdstone’s next home gate though. A lot of the fans we passed talked a good game, as if they were regulars but there were more than 4 times the last home gate there so some of them were fibbing. A lot sounded as though they’d be back. One can hope that Wealdstone do get those extra fans, the team certainly deserve it with their good football.

Final word. The ref. Well done. Barely noticed him. Thanks to Andy Taylor for the photos.

An FA Cup journey began at a Wetherspoons in a positive manner.
4 pints for a fiver is not to be sniffed at.
A slightly simple looking Rotherham fan chatted.
Initial fears of violence were soon dispelled.
A quiet suburban Ruislip afternoon was destroyed by a car alarm and a host of chanting.
On the walk, a turning missed and a kick off missed.
On arrival the ground was a shed.
The ticket overpriced.
The view terrible.
The toilets warm.
A walk of 3 sides of the ground yielded a small hole at a fence to see ¾ of a pitch.
The first goal was missed behind a head and possibly due to a lack of attention.
The spectator was thinking – what’s all the fuss about this FA cup lark.
The 2nd goal a goodun. Some bald guy tonked it in past the afro-ed peach keeper.
The onion bag bulged.
On half time the crowd moved
A view was gained
An average day became far better in the 2nd half.
A small hillock was found.
The Grassy Knoll of Football.
A quality underdog goal.
Some breakaway league team luck.
A solid spirited fight back from the local builders and token postman.
Another quality goal. 3-2…
More chances.
A spectator was happy.
A Romance? Not sure – but certainly a start.
Come on you Stones!

A HOOJ thanks to everyone who voted this week – and indeed in previous weeks – it was a hotly contested vote at the losers end but after a only a few days the winner was fairly clear.

Possibly the penultimate FA Cup action this year for us, if results go very badly for the little clubs. So, this is the biggest weekend of football of the whole season for therealfacup. But what a weekend, thanks to the wonders of television, the internet and public transport, there is a possibility of watching 7 games in 4 days.

That said, still a little surprised that so few voted for Millwall, perhaps their faintly paranoid shout of ‘no one likes us, we don’t care’ is wrong.

We put our poll up before the replays and before the TV games were announced so our main game and winner is actually on the Sunday, which means we could go to the silver and bronze medal winners as well!

Congrats to Wealdstone, we’ll hopefully be there on Saunday, tickets willing, and the same to Cambridge and Millwall.

Our theory is that the league teams can sway a positive vote with a larger fan base so we’re trying to even it up for the non-league sides. This may not work so bare with us with this experiment – and please let us know what you think. And apologies if your club isn’t on the list, maybe next time.

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