I can understand the animosity, obviously they are local rivals, it is the level I can't understand especially in a season when they got promoted.

At last year's play-off final, I took a load of our lads to play on the pitch at half-time and they were walking around the ground in their team tops which are basically the TeamBath strip and a load of Bath City supporters who were supporting whoever TV were playing started hassling them.

Luckily, Marley, for one, wasn't bothered and gave them a load of lip back and these guy were obviously just a bunch of cunts (the BC supporter not my lads) but, you know, going along to support the opposing side of a rival is OK but you only get away with it in non-league and having a go at a load of kids? Wankers (again, not my lads)

Having said that, I will go and see both teams but it certainly makes me think that I can't be bothered going gung-ho for Bath City

Well done, brian, you were spot on in pretty much all your post. 4-1 to TeamBath, Canham with a hat-trick.

I may pop along to the final at Tweron Park on saturday

Cavalry Trouser Tips wrote:

QUOTE:

Code:

Semi 5 --- Tue 29th Apr --- Leamington v Rushall Olympic Semi 6 --- Tue 29th Apr --- Stourbridge v Sutton Coldfield Town

Excellent - Leamington and Stourbridge are kept apart. It's payback time (er, if they both get through their semi final)

And they do.

I'll be at Leamington on Saturday. The ground's in a field three miles from town, so it'll be good preparation for HMP Maze.

Nowt from the AFCW lot?

I'm not one of the "AFCW lot", but I did go last night. It was a pretty decent performance - they were two up at half-time and should really have put it beyond reach before Hornchurch pulled one back just after half-way through the second half. It was a pretty desperate last fifteen minutes, though Hornchurch didn't really create much, and the third goal (which was scored with virtually the last kick of the game) was an outstanding run and finish by John Main. Staines away on Saturday is the final, though I heard that Staines have given them 1,500 out of 2,600 tickets, so it might just be more like a home match.

PhoebeDisco,

Are you coming over on Saturday, and can you get in touch with Jon to see if he is too?

I'd send a PM, but then I'd have to start a thread to let him know he's got one...

Jon, if you're reading this thread, are you over on Saturday?

I'd agree with that. Job half done and all that. Having been as excited as Lieutenant George before the big push for the last two years, I was expecting the worst last night and was surprised, delighted and relieved. We've gone further than ever before, so progress at least.

Though the ref and linesman in their half going insane for 10 min gave me the shits. I once thought it was subtle pressure from the Ryman League not wanting us to leave, but realised it's just that the jumped up ones like to show how fearless they are by giving shocking decisions against us.

Anyway, our ticket allocation has been cut to 1000, and with 1700 season ticket holders, they sold out in hours. That means Staines have 1500 themselves, which is fucking madness and I fully expect to see them on eBay with all the attendant problems for segregation.

Is there any truth in the stories about people going straight from the match up to Staines and getting tickets from there last night? There aren't any tickets on Ebay (I don't want one - there are many people that deserve one more than me - but I thought I'd have a look), and I'd have thought that if you got hold of one, you'd want to keep hold of it.

Be grateful Staines gave you 1000 in the end, I think they only had to give you 600 if they followed the rule book to the max.

Should be a good game, I fancy a 2-1 home win.

Anyway...

As EIM's not here, FC United are 3-1 up on Bamber Bridge this evening. Record crowd or something, apparently.

Bum, I could have gone to that game and I'll be away on saturday...shame! Also missing Stalybridge playoffs games, grmbl...

Full-time, and 3-2. Good work by all, by the sound of it.

QUOTE:
Is there any truth in the stories about people going straight from the match up to Staines and getting tickets from there last night?

Yes. And it's thanks to the good offices of one such individual that YMG and I will be there on Saturday, as long as the weather permits the game to go ahead - some of the photos from the game between Staines and Ramsgate show alarming amounts of surface water on the pitch and it's heavy rain on the forecasts for the next three days.

I don't know what sort of segregation measures Staines will have in place. Apparently the tickets are all the same colour and come with no instructions regarding what turnstile they correspond to, so it's likely to be fairly chaotic, much like when we went to Fisher two seasons ago. Considering that if you factor out the visit of AFC Wimbledon back in December Staines average home attendance this season has been around 350 it ought to come as no surprise that the ostensibly "Staines" tickets will largely find themselves in the hands of Wimbledon supporters on Saturday.

NHH is enirely right about the, lets say "idiosyncratic", performance of the ref and one linesman last night. And almost certainly correct about the causes of it, but some of the overlooked handballs (including one right before they pulled a goal back) were enough to make one wonder. That said, his use of the cards was entirely appropriate, even if our solitary card was for dissent after another truly bizarre decision.

We did wobble quite noticeably after they got one back and they had a glorious opportunity to make it level almost immediately after, but their centre back sent a free header about 8 foot wide from no more than 8 yards out. Which was a relief. That apart we were generally pretty comfortable even though they threw everything they had at us.

Oh, and Jon Main's superb last-minute clincher is viewable here, although the camera angle doesn't really do it justice.

Still, no triumphalism. There's a very tough job still to do against a team who are on the back of a run that's seen them lose only one of the last 13. We are still second favourites to go up and a lot rests on the shoulders of Mr Unlucky, Steve Ferguson and how he does against the occasionally lumbering Staines fullbacks.

Fuck me, I'm excited.