MARK HALSTEAD TO THE RESCUE ONCE AGAIN AS AVELEY HUMILIATE UNITED BANK HOLIDAY NON-LEAGUE ATTENDANCES SOAR
UNITED WOMEN FINDING LIFE TOUGH IN NATIONAL LEAGUE
Four wins on the trot, albeit not very convincingly but never-the-less twelve welcome points on the board and the Yellow Army were behind the team. Then, the wheels came off with a miserable performance on Saturday at Aveley.
Where? Yes, Essex side Aveley population of just over 9,000 who have an upwardly mobile football club.
Credit to United’s travelling support, most of whom managed to navigate themselves around the M25 to arrive at the ground long before the team coach. How on earth is it possible for a professional club to leave it so late before turning up?
For those who were there, the team, apart from Mark Halstead, once again, didn’t offer anything. And the manager, after the game, gave a withering assessment of what went on accusing a number of players of “stealing a living”.
Halstead, of course, made the Vanarama South Team of the Week.
For a full-time club with the resources provided by the owner these type of performances cannot be allowed to continue for much longer. It’s bad enough being in this league once more but it wasn’t that long ago that the club were pushing for a return to the EFL. With the current set-up that is a long way off.
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Getting out of National South has to be the priority this season. Yes, only eight games played and close to the ‘judge us after 10 games’ vibe but the performances are way off what we saw at the tail end of last season.
United’s home crowd average so far is 2,448, second only to Yeovil Town’s 3,131 so the support is there. And the away attendances are pretty impressive too. On Saturday there were more Yellow Army present than home fans.
With the team in the play-off places there has to be something not right for so many to feel the need to post negative comments.
Of course, it’s not just Torquay fans who are moaning, what about those following Chelsea? Thirteen new players and £1billion spent since the new owners took charge. A shock home defeat on Saturday to Nottingham Forest goes to show that money doesn’t always guarantee success.
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It was interesting to see on Bank Holiday Monday last week how popular non-league football is, especially as there were no EFL or Premier League fixtures.
Many clubs had record attendances and these are just a few examples: Macclesfield v Warrington Rylands 3,144, Hednesford Town v Chasetown 1,486, Tunbridge Wells v FC Rusthall 1,043, Herne Bay v Ramsgate 1,039, Basingstoke v AFC Totton 1,003, Hertford Town v Ware 959 and in Kevin Hill’s 150th game in charge Exmouth Town v Bideford 463.
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Playing for the first time at their new home ground, Brixham AFC’s Wall Park, Torquay United Women are finding life tough in the National League as they went down 2-5 to Moneyfields on Sunday. Despite going into an early lead United found their opponents too strong.
They then suffered a 7-0 defeat at local rivals Exeter City on Wednesday.
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United aspire to re-joining the National League where currently Ben Wynter’s Barnet are top and favourites with Chesterfield are not far behind. If it stays like that then former Football League clubs will be returning to the league.
And talking of returning clubs, Notts County top League 2.
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Average National League gates this season: Chesterfield 8,091, Oldham Athletic 7,457, Southend 5,708, York City 4,724, Hartlepool 4,466.
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How many eagle-eyed fans have noticed goalkeepers stepping out of their penalty areas to fly- kick the ball out of their hands up field? Braintree’s keeper did this most of Bank Holiday’s match and at the Taunton Town v Dartford game on Saturday visiting manager Alan Dowson, formerly at Woking, asked the linesman to check Dan Lavercombe in the Taunton goal for doing this.
Is this an unfair advantage or is it hand ball?
Dartford, by the way, had mostly 6 foot plus players in their side including a number 28 who would look more at home in a basketball side. Let’s hope Torquay do their homework before we play them. Taunton, a very direct side, sneaked home with the only goal of the afternoon.
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At Plainmoor on Tuesday night were Farnborough who have had a very chequered recent history, going into administration as Farnborough Town before eventually achieving promotion into National South. But on Tuesday they were very average and the Gulls eased home 3-0 with strikers Aaron Jarvis (2) and Brad Ash sharing the goals.
And on Saturday it’s Chelmsford City coming to town. City as of Monday were unbeaten with the meanest defence in the league, only four conceded but lost at home to Hemel Hempstead.
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Now that United are in National South the journey in the FA Cup starts in the 2nd Qualifying Round and it means a difficult away trip to Wimborne Town managed by Tim Sills.
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At TUST we are often asked why fans should become members, what does membership bring?
Well, thanks to board member Bob Cole a comprehensive list of frequently asked questions is now on the website FAQ's | TUST
TUST sends its congratulations to the Exeter City Supporters’ Trust who celebrated their 20th year of running the club with a special anniversary dinner at St James Park on Monday evening.
You can contact the fans’ zone:
fanszone.tu@gmail.com or Twitter/X: @FanszoneT.
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