Gillingham 2 Chesterfield 3

Match 49/14/1158 - Saturday, 20th December 2014 - League One

Gillingham (0) 2 McDonald 59, Egan 61
Chesterfield (1) 3 Clucas 22, Legge (o.g.) 54, Ryan 69
Att. 6,841

Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 52/3,564

Match Report

Tis the season to be jolly . . .

Gillingham did their level best to enter into the spirit of the festive season with a ticket offer of just £10 for adults, the players throwing gifts to the crowd and a Christmas card on the turnstiles for everybody that wished to take one. Their generosity was extended, via a fragile defensive performance and a last kick of the match miss from Cody McDonald, to the gift of three points to the visitors who returned to Derbyshire fully deserving of their victory.

The afternoon culminated with a less than jolly 6,500 leaving Priestfield in a downcast mood, but not before venting their spleen with manager Peter Taylor bearing the brunt of the criticism, some of which was of an extremely hostile nature.

Taylor has to make his own decisions of course, that is what he is paid for. The few that offended Taylor are a small minority and some people are able to form their opinions from good judgement, some were even decent players in their day (that doesn’t apply to me!). I’ve a problem with Max Ehmer, at this moment in time. Taylor has brought him to the club on loan from Queens Park Rangers and no doubt has an obligation to play him but, in my humble opinion, his inclusion has been at considerable expense. John Egan, has been Gillingham’s best player this season and will, almost without question with no other obvious contender, be crowned Player of the Year in May. He has earned these accolades as a central defender, so why waste that talent playing him at right back to accommodate Ehmer. The German has an unfortunate body language that makes his style look casual, in fact it looks lazy and when he ducked under Jimmy Ryan’s shot for Chesterfield’s winning goal, then his commitment to the cause could also be brought into question.

Taylor’s team selection has irritated me continually this season, but just occasionally a player produces a performance or lack of one that makes you think perhaps he has it right and I’ve been wrong all along. Bradley Dack, is my for instance. I like Dack’s energy; he’s good on the ball and has an eye for a goal, so why has he sat on the bench so many times this season? Perhaps his performance in this game explains Taylor’s thinking. Whilst Dack was his usual effervescent self, he failed to influence the game and was eventually substituted when Gillingham were chasing the game from two down. In fairness, his lack of influence wasn’t singular in a midfield that created very little from the centre of the park.

Gillingham, you would think, would have been buoyed by the sight of Chesterfield’s team sheet. Eoin Doyle, 19 goals this season, was declared unfit and only took his place on the bench because Paul Cook’s squad was so thin in numbers that he was among just four substitutes.

The home side could have gone behind in the opening five minutes when a header from Armand Gnanduillet was cleared from the line by Brennan Dickenson with Stuart Nelson a helpless bystander.

The visitor’s admirable ambition, given their problematic team selection, was finally rewarded after 22 minutes. Ryan swept the ball to Sam Clucas in acres of space wide on the left wing, the full back opted to try his luck from 20 yards with an angled shot that found the far corner, appearing to take a deflection off Egan, who had attempted to close down the initial space given.

Taylor opted to make early second half substitutions, Dack and Dickenson were replaced by McDonald and Jermain McGlashen, but within a minute of their appearance, the visitors doubled their lead. Tendayi Darikwa, who had looked mightily impressive going forward from his right back position, drove a hard, low cross towards the far post in the direction of Gnanduillet and was left to celebrate as Leon Legge inadvertently turned the ball into his own net for the third time this season. Gillingham have now conceded six own goals, even three would seem unlucky, six appears careless.

How often do we witness a poor Gillingham performance when a big crowd has assembled on the back of a ticket offer, almost always is the answer. But at least the home support were treated to a spirited comeback from their favourites. Five minutes after Chesterfield’s second, Doug Loft hoisted a pinpoint cross to the edge of the six yard box from where McDonald was able to steer a relatively unchallenged header past Tommy Lee.

Two minutes later and the home crowd were in full voice as Loft sent in another cross, this time to the far angle of the six yard box, to be met with a diving header from Egan into the bottom corner.

With half-an-hour remaining and the momentum entirely with the home side, Gillingham should have been expected to complete the comeback with a winning goal. But the culminating moment to 15 exhilarating minutes fell to Chesterfield. A ball into the box was miscontrolled; a half-hearted clearance found the dropping ball met with a sweet volley from Ryan, and with Ehmer ducking underneath the ball, it was to nestle in the corner.

Gillingham showed no sign of retrieving the situation in the remaining 20 minutes, until in the last seconds of four added minutes, a long clearance from Nelson was headed on by Danny Kedwell and it seemed a foregone conclusion that McDonald would save the day, the ball inexplicably at the time, went wide of the mark but later it was shown that it was the fingertips of Lee that had preserved the points for the Spireites.

The festive period is underway; Gillingham have exercised the spirit of giving. We can only hope that on Boxing Day they can deliver a knock-out punch.

Dulwich Hamlet 2 Tonbridge 0

Match 48/14/1157 - Tuesday, 9th December 2014 - Ryman Premier

Dulwich Hamlet (2) 2 Carew 18 (pen), Koroma 45
Tonbridge (0) 0
Att. 421

Entrance: £4 Senior
Programme: £2
Mileage: 86/3,512

Match Report

An only to be expected but, nonetheless, awkward journey into south London was the precursor to a Tonbridge performance that had an encouraging opening ten minutes and a final ten in which they threw what they had left in an effort to retrieve a game that had been lost in the intervening time. An early two junction delay on the M20, followed by the tiresome stop-start nature of the south circular at rush hour (or any other hour, for that matter) eventually arriving at Champion Hill in good time for the kick-off but still half-an-hour later than the satnav had originally predicted.

This was my first visit to Champion Hill in the lifetime of this blog and also a first with Dulwich Hamlet as the hosts. My only other visit was a memorable occasion back in 2005, when Tonbridge visited for an FA Cup tie against the then high-flying, big spending Fisher Athletic. Nobody expected Tonbridge to win on that day, but a couple of goals from Jay May and a solid backs-to-the-wall display in the last 20 minutes saw the visitors to a now almost legendary 3-2 victory.

Positioned at the rear of Sainsbury’s (which is very handy for parking) Champion Hill boasts a fine grandstand that incorporates the bar, changing rooms and offices and a covered terraced enclosure on the opposite side.

Dulwich Hamlet are, undoubtedly, a good side that chased the Ryman Premier League title last season alongside Maidstone United, before both were overhauled by Wealdstone and eventually failing to gain a play-off position. This season they have retained that impetus and currently sit in third place behind M&M (Margate and Maidstone) and a win for Tonbridge might have been considered as momentous as that 2005 victory.

The visitors started brightly with the wingers Dee Okojie and Flavio Tavares to the fore. The latter intercepted a poor pass back to the goalkeeper but pulled his shot wide after four minutes and then a fine move ended with Okojie shooting into the side netting. Tom Parkinson put a header over the bar before the hosts took the lead from the penalty spot against the run of play.

Jordan Hibbert took a pass into the box from where a challenge by Nathan Campbell brought the player down. It looked a clear penalty from my vantage point, but there were Tonbridge protests both at the time and after the match. Ashley Carew, a former Gillingham youngster, stepped up to convert the spot kick.

Dulwich Hamlet took control of the game for the remainder of the half with Tonbridge now reduced to sporadic attacks. As half-time approached, Dulwich added to their lead to give the Angels a second half mountain to climb. Hibbert caused further problems, but his cross into the box offered the Tonbridge defence a couple of opportunities to Row Z the ball, however these were not taken and the ball fell at the feet of Omar Koroma who stabbed it home.

Dulwich should have put the game to bed in the second half before Tonbridge rallied in the final quarter-hour. Harry Ottaway spurned a couple chances before Steve McKimm reinforced the front line with the introduction of Alex Teniola and Royce Greenidge. If nothing more a consolation goal was deserved from this final assault as Teniola saw his shot rebound off the goalkeeper’s legs and Parkinson put a header narrowly over. With five minutes remaining an Okojie cross was met with a Jack Parter header that was cleared from the line before the Angels’ despair at refereeing decisions doubled when Marvin Williams was brought down on the edge of the box, the official deeming that the foul had taken place outside, whilst the players claimed it was inside.

The journey home still found the south circular slow at 10 p.m. and another hold-up on the M20, it was just that sort of night.

AFC Portchester 0 Tunbridge Wells 1

Match 47/14/1156 - Saturday, 6th December 2014 - FA Vase 3R

AFC Portchester (0) 0
Tunbridge Wells (0) 1 Potter 72
Att. 454

Entrance: £3 Senior
Programme: £1
Mileage: 224/3,426
New Ground: 270

Match Report

As the strong contingent of Tunbridge Wells supporters departed the Wicor Recreation Ground, a rather large man stood outside of the hospitality area shouting at them, you were [expletive] lucky, you [expletive] lucky [expletive]. If he hadn't enjoyed the game, he had certainly enjoyed the liquid buffet and one would guess, watched the second half through the bottom of his pint glass.

This was one of those days when I wanted to be in three different places but it was the magic of the FA Vase that lured me into deepest Hampshire and a pleasant little ground just outside Portsmouth. As has been previously documented, probably now far too many times, the Vase has a special place in the hearts of the Wells support and, once again, they turned up in big numbers and were very vocal.

With a place in the last 32 at stake, this was one of the biggest days in the history of AFC Portchester and the place had that feel of cup fever with stewards and ballboys that I daresay are not in evidence on any given Wessex League Saturday.

For Portchester's manager it was probably a big day, but in fairness he has seen bigger. Graham Rix, was a FA Cup winner with Arsenal for whom he made 351 appearances alongside 17 caps for England. Unfortunately his life also has an important lowlight with a prison term served for a sex offence that doesn't go unnoticed by visiting supporters.

The game was a scrappy affair, not helped by an awkward looking pitch with grass a touch too long. Portchester enjoyed a good deal of early possession that was won with some aggressive tackling in the middle of the field. One such heavy challenge left Jason Bourne needing attention and a few minutes later the injury proved too much and his substitution led to a reshuffle of the Wells back line with Jake Beecroft switching to right back.

Ironically, it was Joe Fuller that was the first to see a yellow card after a challenge that clearly was a foul but no worse than any that had gone unpunished with a card previously. The card inhibited Fuller and a couple of challenges that he would have made later in the game he appeared to pull out of for fear of a second yellow.

Overall, the Wells would have been glad to get to the half-time whistle all-square, although the reshuffled defence had barely allowed their hosts a clear opportunity to test Steve Lawrence.

Martin Larkin made a second half tactical change pushing Danny Powell up front alongside Brendan Cass and the erstwhile winger's pace posed a new set of problems for the home defence and a series of corners followed.

After 72 minutes one of those corners finally bore fruit. Tom Davey directed the ball towards the near post and the head of Tom Bryant, his faintest of touches sent the ball to the feet of Brad Potter who swept the ball home from close range.

Portchester threw everything in an effort to rescue their FA Vase future, but the Wells back line stood firm with Perry Spackman and Potter, who had to leave the field at one point to replace a contact lens, outstanding. There were nervous moments but Lawrence was largely untroubled and the home side's frustration boiled over with a somewhat agricultural challenge on Powell.

The final whistle saw the Tunbridge Wells team celebrate with their fans in the now customary fashion for Vase victories and the magical mystery tour continues into Monday's draw.

Thankfully our friend wishing us a safe journey home was in a minority of one and the general opinion was that this was a game which might have gone either way with Potter capitalising on the one clear chance of the game.

The draw goes national on Monday and this tour can lead us on the road to anywhere (although a home draw is overdue); to be sure the Wells' love affair with this competition continues and their army of support will be alongside them every mile of the journey.

Maidstone United 0 Tonbridge 4

Match 46/14/1155 - Thursday, 4th December 2014 - Ryman League Cup 3R

Maidstone United (0) 0
Tonbridge (1) 4 Tavares 43 Rivelino 68 Quintyne (pen) 86 Mici 88
Att. 460

Entrance: £3 Senior
Programme: Free
Mileage: 30/3,202

The Robert Dyas Cup (the Ryman League Cup) is a competition that has largely been devalued by the playing of weakened teams was further denigrated by an agreement between Maidstone United and Tonbridge Angels to play this game on a Thursday evening in order to get a one-game suspension for Maidstone’s Jack Parkinson out of the way prior to their FA Cup Second Round tie at Wrexham. This, of course, has to be hearsay, as I would imagine that if that was made into some sort of an official notice, then a reprimand could be brought against both clubs.

In the circumstances with the aforementioned cup tie 48 hours away, it was obvious that Maidstone would be fielding a side based largely on academy players whilst Tonbridge have in previous rounds used the competition to assess young and fringe players. Much though it is said through gritted teeth, it is a great credit to the huge support that Maidstone enjoy that an attendance of 460 gathered with every last one of them aware of the circumstances.

It is also a compliment to Maidstone that they produced a programme, free of charge, unlike Bromley on Tuesday. Right, that’s enough of being nice to our fiercest rivals. I was not alone in the thought that why are we doing our bitterest rivals a favour?

This will be recorded, whatever the make-up of the teams, as a first team fixture and any win over Maidstone is to be enjoyed. A 4-0 demolition is to be savoured.

Tonbridge were able to call on reserves with some experience. Manny Monthe and Charlie Slocombe partnered in the centre of defence, whilst Jack Brivio and Flavio Tavares have seen first team playing time from the bench. Maidstone were only able to call on Phil Starkey, ironically an ex-Angel, who was ineligible for Saturday’s encounter, with any experience.

With no prior knowledge of Maidstone’s academy, other than local talk that it is highly regarded, a tough match was still expected, but after an initial 20 minutes in which both sides weighed each other up, Tonbridge began to take control with Brivio and George Craddock, recently released from Margate I’m told, pulling the strings. The pace of Tavares on one wing and Neville Rivelino on the other was a constant source of danger to the home side. After several near misses, the breakthrough finally came when Tavares cut in from the left and curled a beauty in off the far post.

The second half was completely one-way traffic. Rivelino drove in a second from inside the box and then was brought down for Gavin Quintyne to stroke home the penalty and late in the game Mici added a fourth.

The Robert Dyas Cup may only have its uses to serve suspensions or blood youngsters but it has served up a rich source of encouragement for Tonbridge. This talented bunch need to be tested at higher levels to see just how good they might be, but on the evidence of this game, the future looks bright.

As a postscript to this game, it has emerged that George Craddock was, in fact, an ineligible player having played as a substitute in a prior round for Merstham. A decision will be made at a Ryman League meeting on 18 January 2015 with the expected consequence being Tonbridge’s removal from the competition. This is so frustrating and you have to wonder how a player is unaware of the fact that he is cup-tied.

Bromley 3 Tonbridge 0

Match 45/14/1154 - Tuesday, 2nd December 2014 - FA Trophy 3QRR

Bromley (1) 3 Sobers (o.g.) 5, Ademola (pen) 58, Slabber 68
Tonbridge (0) 0
Att. 408

Entrance: £6
Programme: None produced
Mileage: 80/3,172

Match Report

More often than not in cup competitions the minnow has one chance to slay the giant and if they don’t seize the day then the opportunity passes. From all accounts, Tonbridge played really well in the initial game of this FA Trophy tie and fully deserved their replay against Conference South pacemakers Bromley, but on a cold night at an everlasting hoodoo ground, the opportunity had, indeed, passed.

Whether it was the heavy rain prior to kick off, a lack of interest in the qualifying rounds of the competition or a Crystal Palace home game on the same evening that restricted the attendance it was disappointing to see Hayes Lane so poorly populated. Even more annoying was the lack of a programme, evidently due to production difficulties, but even given that excuse, it is pretty shabby of a club of Bromley’s size to be unable to produce one.

Any hopes that Tonbridge’s lamentable record at Hayes Lane, no victory since a Kent Senior Cup tie 20 years ago, would be ended was immediately pushed to the back of the mind when, after five minutes, Jerrome Sobers turned a cross from Louis Dennis into his own net.

It was a tough start for the visitors and for 20 minutes they found it difficult to contain their hosts. Several goal scoring attempts were wasteful, but on 25 minutes, Damian Scannell was denied by a fantastic block from Laurence Ball.

In a torrid period just prior to the break, Bromley spurned three separate opportunities to go into half-time with a substantial advantage with Jordan Robertson the chief offender.

On the night, Tonbridge’s bench was probably as strong as it could be, but envious eyes would have been cast along the line to see Scannell, Jamie Slabber and Adam Birchall waiting in the wings.

Sobers, who probably was a long way short of being fully fit, was forced to make way on the hour and eight minutes later the game was effectively put to bed. Moses Ademola stepped inside Chris Piper and the Tonbridge midfielder clumsily brought him down. Ademola stroked home the penalty to double the advantage.

After 68 minutes, Slabber executed the final twist of the knife when he produced an outlandish finish from a cross by Ademola at the far post. The ball appeared to have eluded the substitute but with the tightest of angles he squeezed the ball into the net.

Adam Birchall made a substitute’s appearance with 15 minutes remaining and it is sad to see him play a peripheral role after his injury-wrecked spell at Gillingham.

Tonbridge did better than okay for periods in this game, but for all their craft and industry in the middle of the field it was in the final third where their lightweight attack foundered on the mountainous Rob Swaine.

With a night shift beckoning in deepest, darkest Bermondsey I took my leave with five minutes remaining. The drive to work took me through a brightly Christmas decorated Chislehurst and gave me time to reflect that despite the score line, Tonbridge had some bright spots of their own on the evening and perhaps Santa will bring them a much needed striker.

Gillingham 2 Port Vale 2

Match 44/14/1153 - Saturday, 29th November 2014 - League One

Gillingham (1) 2 Egan 29,55
Port Vale (1) 2 N'Guessan 18, Brown 90+4
Att. 4,799

Entrance: Season Ticket
Programme: £3
Mileage: 52/3,092

Match Report

Passing through the turnstiles at Priestfield I was handed a leaflet outlining the merchandise available in the club shop with Christmas approaching. Hardly unexpected, a stick of Gillingham rock was unavailable, had there been, it would have frustration written all the way through.

Late, on occasions very late, goals have featured throughout this season. Back in August, a win against the old enemy, Swindon Town, was denied by a last minute own goal and a visit to Sheffield United ended in defeat following a goal seven minutes into time added. It was hoped that a corner had been turned in this cycle when at the last home game against Leyton Orient, despite conceding a goal three minutes into added time, Gillingham still found a winner in the 98th minute and then a late equaliser at Bradford City earned a much welcome point.

With certain echoes of Stephen Bywater’s own goal against Swindon, a goalkeeping howler from Stuart Nelson gifted Port Vale a share of the points after Gillingham had appeared to just about hold on to their lead as the four minutes of added time had almost elapsed.

Gillingham had an enforced reshuffle of the defensive back line with the recall by parent club, Wolverhampton Wanderers, of Kortney Hause after a successful loan period. His form has not only been recognised by his club but also of England, as he had made his mark at Under-20 level during his time at Priestfield. In his place, Peter Taylor drafted in from Queen’s Park Ranger, Max Ehmer and also took Charlton’s Harry Lennon on loan. Ehmer, a 22-year-old German, went straight into the team in a five man back line with Adam Chicksen and Gavin Hoyte playing advanced roles as wing backs.

Playing with that five, with Michael Doughty stationed just in front of the central three appeared to give Gillingham problems in midfield in the opening 20 minutes finding themselves outnumbered. After 18 minutes a straight ball found Danny N’Guessan with a yard of space on the edge of the box where such space should have been denied and a shot into the bottom corner gave Nelson no chance.

The acre of space between Gillingham’s deep midfield and the front two became increasingly frustrating as long punts towards Cody McDonald and Brennan Dickenson were easily dealt with by the Valiant’s defence. However the space was put to good use on the half-hour when John Egan strode forward, exchanged passes with Jake Hessenthaler and struck a sweet 25-yarder past the Vale keeper, Chris Neal for Gillingham’s equaliser.

The home side enjoyed a period of relative dominance up to the break and Taylor’s formation with the wing backs had settled down and was working well.

Nelson made a good stop in the opening moments from Ben Williamson, a graduate of Glenn Hoddle’s Academy in Spain, who had been a nuisance for much of the afternoon.

However, it was Gillingham, after a period of pressure, who took the lead on 55 minutes, Egan planting a powerful header from Hessenthaler’s corner into the bottom corner.

Taylor made a surprise double substitution with 20 minutes remaining and whilst he later outlined his reasons for the changes, there are many who felt that the removal of Hoyte and reverting to a flat back four invited the pressure that eventually brought the Port Vale equaliser. The fact that the substitutes, Jermaine McGlashen and Antonio German, made absolutely no impact on the game also brings the decision into question.

When the goal finally came with just 20 seconds of the four minutes added time remaining, the alarm bells had been ringing loud and clear. Colin Daniel struck a post and when Louis Dodds’ effort came back off the underside of the bar to safety, it was hard not to feel that this was to be Gillingham’s day.

Michael Brown skipped a couple of challenges before unleashing a shot from 20 yards. Quite how the shot evaded Nelson I’ve no idea. It wasn’t a shot of great venom and took a couple of bounces before nestling in the corner of the net, for the most frustrating of endings.

Nelson shouldered the blame on the pitch, but many off the pitch would point to Taylor’s baffling substitutions when all appeared steady as you go with his back five.

Frustrating sums up this game, sums up this season.

Westfield 1 Tunbridge Wells 5

Match 43/14/1152 - Saturday, 22nd November 2014 - FA Vase 2R

Westfield (1) 1 Milne 22
Tunbridge Wells (2) 5 Fuller 4,56,85, Cass 43, Radford 49
Att. 155

Entrance: £3 Senior
Programme: £1
Mileage: 138/3,040
New Ground: 269

The FA Vase is synonymous with the upturn in Tunbridge Wells’ level of support. The club has done an excellent job in maintaining the interest that was generated by their 2013 journey to Wembley and when a new run in the competition is underway that support is mobilised and turn up in relatively huge numbers on unsuspecting hosts.

Westfield is a football club seemingly unknown to the local residents of Woking. Living, quite literally in the shadow of their Conference neighbours, their Woking Park stadium is accessed through the doors of a sports centre that was quite easily missed, as I did. Having walked past the entrance and proceeding to walk in a big circle, I asked a pair of Woking supporters if they knew the whereabouts of the entrance, they didn’t even know of the existence of Westfield let alone the gate.

Once inside, it is a rather strange set-up with the main stand of just a few seats set into the rear of the sports centre. There is a nice bar up a set of stairs and from there a balcony can be accessed from where probably about half of the Tunbridge Wells following chose to watch the game. Behind one goal there is another stand which can only be described as small but beautifully formed. When it went to the town planners it can only be assumed that somebody took along a model made out of Lego or from their Subbuteo set as their outline plan. It only seats 50 and evidently was only constructed because they were that many seats short to be able to compete in FA competitions. The stand quickly became bedecked with the flags from the visiting support.

En-route through a heavy rainstorm I had worried that the journey might end fruitless and on first look at the pitch I realised that I was quite lucky that it had passed an inspection. The state of the heavily-sanded midfield area could well have proved a leveler but Tunbridge Wells raced out of the blocks and were ahead within four minutes. A raking 40 yard pass from Jake Beecroft picked out Lee Radford who was brought down. The resultant free kick was met with a glancing header by Joe Fuller into the bottom corner.

To their credit, Westfield were not going to lie down and accept their fate. The Combined Counties League side took the game to the Wells and were unfortunate to have a goal disallowed for a foul on the Wells’ goalkeeper Steve Lawrence. It was one of those decisions that referees always seem to give in favour of the keeper.

They created several good chances with their number eight at the heart of Westfield’s prompting until the goal that had been coming for some time finally arrived on 22 minutes. The right winger skipped a challenge from Tom Bryant and from the bye-line pulled the ball back to Michael Milne who scored from close range.

The half remained evenly contested before, on the stroke of half-time, a Radford shot from 25 yards was spilt by the Westfield keeper to the poaching feet of Brendan Cass to give Martin Larkin a slightly more comfortable half-time talk.

Once the Wells had extended their lead early in the second half the game became largely one-way traffic. A misdirected header from midfield allowed Radford to get between two defenders to side foot into the net from eight yards.

A move of top quality on the hour deservedly put the game beyond doubt. Fuller won the ball in midfield and a 13 pass move ensued that ended with the ball back at Fuller’s feet, who, with a turn and shot into the top corner made it four.

With the lights of Woking’s Kingfield Stadium burning brightly across the park as they fought out a draw against league leaders Barnet, the voices of the 2,600 crowd was regularly audible, one wonders if they, in turn, took note of the celebrating Tunbridge Wells supporters.

The Wells finally made it a nap hand and a score line that perhaps was slightly unkind on Westfield when a corner was headed on by Perry Spackman and Fuller, falling backwards, scored with a spectacular volley to complete his hat trick.

At the time of writing the home club had not announced the attendance, whatever the number it is not an exaggerated guess that the visitors made up 90% of that total. Westfield, in defeat, will no doubt take comfort from their bar takings whilst the Wells waltzed home with the £1,200 prize money.

PS. The attendance was subsequently announced at 155.