Iron will
Scunthorpe United seem to be on firmer ground at last. After several turbulent months, local businesswoman Michelle Harness has taken over from David Hilton, who had publicly stated that he had withdrawn any funding for the club. As a result, only a week ago, the club had to leave their Glanford Park ground and start to play fixtures at Gainsborough Trinity. Hopefully, the Iron can begin moving up from the bottom of the National North towards the Football League.
King Louis the 51st
Some may call Jefferson Louis a journeyman, but the 44-year-old Dominican international has just made the 51st move of his career. The forward moves from Slough Town to Beaconsfield Town and was due to appear in this weekend’s FA Trophy 3-0 victory over Ashford United, but we have been unable to track down any of the 85 in attendance to check whether Jefferson played. Rumour has it that Jefferson is known affectionately as J-Lo. His Wikipedia makes good reading – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Louis.
Blues beat reds
When Willand Rovers beat Cribbs 2-1 in the Southern League Division One South fixture, a former Tory Chancellor of the Exchequer did better than this Labour opponent who held the same position. Yes, we’re talking about Geoffrey Howe and Gordon Brown, or, rather, we’re talking about Owen Howe and Jake Brown. Owen scored twice, while Jake only scored once as Willand Rovers won the day, leaving them at the top of the table.
Labour gains
Following on from the Willand Rovers v Cribbs game, the National League South fixture between Braintree Town and Bath City had a connection between the scorers in the 1-1 draw. Aaron Blair scored for Braintree Town, while Scott Wilson netted for Bath. This is definitely moving up a notch by having scorers with the same names as Prime Ministers.
Clever penalty cock-up
There is nothing more entertaining than a creative penalty. Anyone of an ancient age may recall Dave Dunmore, Leyton Orient’s superstar striker who took them to Division One in the 1960s, take a ‘Rabona’ penalty. (A nod to the intrepid researcher who unearthed this gem). A Rabona is performed when the kicking leg is crossed behind the back of the standing leg. David Dunn comically shows you how not to execute this in this video. Returning to penalties, the gentle chip when the ball travels at about 1 mph makes the keeper look stupid, except if
the kick goes straight into the keeper’s arms. However, this two-man penalty kick looked great until the second player lined up the side-foot into the empty net. https://twitter.com/i/status/1706731253511107033
Busy Lisbie
I don’t often admit to supporting Charlton and even less frequently admit to being born in Charlton. However, I will never forget Kevin Lisbie’s hat trick in 2003 when Charlton overturned Liverpool 3-2 at The Valley in the Premier League. Kevin had a patchy record at Charlton – 155 appearances and 16 goals, which is not exactly pulling up trees when you are a striker. Lisbie, now aged 44, plays for Cray Valley Paper Mills, and last week, they beat Carshalton Athletic 2-1 after a 3-3 draw the previous Saturday in which young Kevin Lisbie scored. Ali Tumkaya netted a late winner in the replay to give Cray Valley PM a home tie against Enfield Town to reach the 1st Round Proper. Next up for Cray Valley PM was an FA Trophy tie on Saturday against, you’ve guessed it, Carshalton Athletic. The result was another 2-1 win for the Millers.
Lille savaged
Well, not savaged, but tiny KI Klaksvik became the first team from the Faroe Islands to take a point in a European game. They drew 0-0 against mighty French side Lille at the Við Djúpumýrar Stadium. On the night, they had more shots on target than their French opposition, and I was delighted to see that one of their players is named Odmar Færø, which I would like to think is pronounced like Faroe, but I frankly have no idea.
Infinitely better
The second highest scorers in the Uhlsport Hampshire League Senior Division are appropriately Infinity FC. At the weekend, they knocked five goals past 
Liss Athletic and now sit in second place behind Locks Heath. However, they conceded two goals to Liss Athletic, which means that Liss Athletic remain the division’s highest scorers with 35 goals, one ahead of Infinity. You can be forgiven for thinking a hardware company should sponsor the Hampshire League with Locks Heath, Hook and Liphook United in the division.
32 from 640
32 non-League clubs will progress from the 4th Round Qualifying of the FA Cup this weekend or in the subsequent replays. This is from a starting field of 640 non-League clubs. There will be a chance that Leek Town can come against a top League One side, such as Portsmouth, Derby County or even Charlton Athletic! Oops, that’s another mention for my team. Two ties worthy of note are Billericay Town v Sheppey United and Cray Valley Paper Mills v Enfield Town. Both ties guarantee a debut in the 1st Round Proper of the FA Cup for the winner of each tie.
Earning his corn
Connor Wheatley was the hero for Redbridge in the FA Trophy tie against Badshot Lea. Penalties decided the game after a 0-0 draw. Rather than bad shots from Badshot Lea, it seems Connor made three outstanding saves to see the Motormen through to the next round.
And off to bed
Cribbs won away to Didcot Town in the FA Trophy by a narrow 2-1 margin. I hoped Bedford Town would win at Matlock Town so that Cribbs could progress to meet Bedford Town. However, The Eagles of Bedford Town were defeated 1-0 by the Gladiators of Matlock Town. Maybe Cribbs can face Woking next. It’s time to go up the wooden hill. Good night.
