Sedge

The perils of grass-roots football. We've had several instances in the past with lost registration forms and late payments. It all adds to the experience! Last week we played in the FA Vase semi-Final first leg against Glossop North End and experienced our first home defeat for 360 days. We have to overcome a 2-0 deficit to get to Wembley but we're still loving it!

Sometimes goalies seem almost unnecessary! We had a cup semi-final a few years ago against the favourites but our three 'keepers were all injured. No-one was more surprised than us when we triumphed 4-1. After the match, the opposition captain came out with an odd comment: "If we'd known their goalie was a striker we'd have tried to score more goals". We seemed out of sorts yesterday, producing our worst performance of the season with a 1-1 draw against our relegation-struggling opponents. On the bright side, none of the top 7 managed a win. I heard that the ref we had on Wednesday was officiating in Devon. When he led the players onto the pitch,the home club blasted 'Fog on the Tyne' from the tannoy. The half time accompaniment was 'I Can See Clearly Now'.

Well,You just can't keep AFC St Austell off the news. We're all over local TV today after last night's 58 second match. When I arrived the pitch was completely obscured by fog. An hour later things hadn't changed but the referee still hadn't called it off. We couldn't quite believe it when the ref went ahead with the kick-off. As soon as the whistle blew, the linesman frantically waved his flag as he couldn't see anything. The ref then took just short of a minute to notice him and abandoned the match. It was an epic game though!

Tonight we discovered our Cornwall Senior Cup Final opponents. On Easter Monday we'll be playing.....Godolphin Atlantic. Yes,the same Godolphin Atlantic who have been the only side to beat us since August. And they'very done that twice in the past month. Why do this club insist on tormenting us?! I think we should write to them, asking nicely to not take our Cup away from us.

Hope your lads turn the corner soon Inver. We'll be facing Glossop North End in the Vase. They used to play their league matches against the likes of Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest at the top of English football (in 1900)! Our season is looking scary. Throughout most of April we'll have a match every 2-3 days!

Well done St Johnstone! We reached another Cornwall Senior Cup Final this week with a 2-0 win over our local rivals. In a very rare event, tomorrow we actually play in the league!

I hope things get sorted out for Andy! The semi-final draw took place this morning. We'look be playing either Glossop North End (who were an English top-flight club in 1900) or Shaw Lane Aquaforce (who are only three years old)!

Well, winning FA Vase matches seems to be becoming a hard habit to break. A crowd of 1,433 stood in the pouring rain for two hours yesterday to see us win our quarter final 3-2! Just eight short years ago I remember an audience of 15 watching a 12-2 defeat against Dobwalls which consigned us to the basement slot in Division 1. On balance I think I prefer the current state of affairs.☺ Just a two-legged semi-final now stands between us and Wembley! I hope your weather was less liquid than ours Inver - any joy for your boys?

Thanks Inver, we'll do our best.☺

Well done to your boys Inver! Yesterday we played Godolphin Atlantic. They're the side who ended our huge winning run a couple of weeks ago. On that occasion we seemed nervous ahead of a big FA Vase match a few days later. I'm reminded of Groundhog Day - our next game is in the FA Vase! Two of our key players were left out to avoid injury and everybody else played as if the slightest tackle would break their legs.The result? A 2-0 defeat. Oh well,it had to happen sometime. This was our first league defeat since August (also the first time we'd failed to score since August). I'm slightly concerned about the Cornwall Senior Cup as well. As the holders we're the favourites to win our semi-final. But who's that I see in the other semi-final? It's Godolphin - nooooooo! *wakes up in a cold sweat*

We're fighting rain and heavy hail down here, but our league match will be played no matter what. We have two months to play half a season's worth of games!

Don't worry Inver, winter has to end sometime! On Friday we managed a 5-1 victory in the Cornwall Senior Cup quarter final. That's the trophy that currently resides in our cabinet. We've been rewarded with a semi-final against our local rivals. As we were a year ago - I hope the result is also the same! Our last three games have been in various cups so we're no further forward in our quest for the league title. We now lie fourth, seven points off the lead with seven games in hand over everybody around us. March and April are gonna be hectic, but I wouldn't change this situation for anything!☺

Yesterday's match exceeded expectations with a 2-0 win to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Vase! We had our biggest crowd for over 40 years (877). That got close to the club's record attendance (15,000)! Overall I'm a happy man this Sunday.☺ Any joy with your weekend Inver?

The winning run finally came to an end last night with a 2-1 defeat in the League Cup. It was suggested that with an FA Vase match coming up on Saturday, we weren't really bothered with this cup. However, this is the competition in which we were beaten finalists last year so we REALLY wanted to win it. Ten years ago our opponents were at the very bottom tier of local football so their rise has been astonishing. Godolphin Atlantic are a name to look out for over the next couple of years. And we have to play them in the league in a couple of weeks.

Pretty much the same here. Our entire league programme has been wiped out this afternoon. Fortunately we only have to wait until Wednesday for our next match.

Oof! We've been there. Quite an experience isn't it? We played the league leaders today and despite our early pressure they caught us on the break and scored with their first attack. From there they matched us until midway through the second half when we made a breakthrough and equalised. We were already waving goodbye to our winning run when our star striker and man of the match was substituted on ninety minutes. Incredibly though, in the 3rd and last minute of injury time, the sub buried the ball in the back of the net. That was the loudest roar I've ever heard at Poltair Park! As an added bonus, the second-placed side also lost meaning that we're now two points behind the leaders with SIX games in hand. It was a good day.

It's feeling Arctic down here at the moment so I can only imagine what it's like where you are!

We're being extremely lucky with the weather down here. Lots of rain but our pitch is holding up well. On Saturday we meet the league leaders - the only team to have beaten us in the league this season. It'll be epic (I hope)!

The long journey to London (which seems halfway to the North Pole from here) paid dividends as we came away from Greenwich Borough with a fantastic 3-2 victory! From over 500 clubs we're in the last 16 - feels like a dream at the moment! How's it going for your boys Inver? Any improvement in the weather yet?

Thanks Inver. The advantage of being in tropical Cornwall is that we only need to be concerned about the one type of weather - rain. Snow is an almost mythical substance down here!

I haven't posted here for a while - Happy New Year! Credit to you for at least trying to get the game on Inver! And great news for Glendale too - when's the semi-final? Since I was last here we've beaten the champions, our local rivals AND our closest title rivals. It was a fantastic holiday period! Yesterday we had a 5-0 win in our defence of the cup to extend our winning run to 22 games. However, as optimistic as I normally am, we have Greenwich Borough in the FA Vase next Saturday and they seem a much better side than we've ever faced before. It should be interesting.

That's the kind of match I like Inver! Provided I'm on the winning side of course. We seem to be signing a lot of players at the moment - it's only a matter of time before we get around to Andy! Winter rains have finally arrived. We had our first postponement of the season on Saturday and Friday's match against the champions is in the balance. Crossing my fingers!

Our FA Vase game can best be described as 'unexpected'. Verwood Town were from a higher league but never really got the chance to perform as we dominated the game from start to finish. The final score was 6-1! In the next round we're away at Greenwich Borough. I've read up on them and they look frighteningly good with some former professionals in their side. A win is unlikely but we'll give it our best try! We started our defence of the Cornwall Senior Cup last night with a 5-0 win over Falmouth Town. We're now on an 18 game winning run! A season like this doesn't come along very often, so we'll make sure we enjoy it.

I hope your boys get a game this afternoon Inver. What's the weather like today? It's a big moment for us. We're at home in the third round of the FA Vase against higher league opposition. However, they're struggling near the bottom of their league and are portraying themselves as the underdogs. We have two key players suspended and one injured. Anything could happen!☺

Yesterday saw a freezing night in which we struggled to get past a lower division side in the League Cup. Our 'keeper had a nightmare when he fumbled the ball and lost out to their striker within 30 seconds! A similar blunder saw him concede a second ten minutes later and we were being outplayed comprehensively. Fortunately we woke up and managed to pull level by half time. The second half saw us back to our usual selves, going 4-2 up before another defensive disaster made it 4-3. Our opponents pushed and forced a goal-line clearance in the last minute. Shamefully we have to hold our hands up and admit to complacency going into this game, but we made it through. It was a fright we don'the want to experience again!