Saturday’s tie in The FA Cup Fourth Round Qualifying was down in Eastbourne, where Borough were pitted against fellow Conference South side Bromley at Priory Lane. A brilliant crowd of 1,212, nearly 500 above their home average, saw Borough reach the First Round Proper for only the second time in their history.
It was a tense game with a lot at stake. Borough dominated the first half but only managed one goal before Bromley equalised ten minutes into the second period and almost immediately had a player sent off. The Kent side, who I saw lose at Gillingham in last season’s First Round, held on until the 85th minute when Borough’s skipper confidently slammed in a penalty to take them through.
I decided to take the No.3 bus back to Eastbourne’s town centre rather than join a packed social club for the First Round draw. At the back of the bus were three Borough fans and one claimed to have the draw on his mobile phone. I was sitting at the front, straining to hear.
I heard a lot of 'Who’s Borough got?' – but after that it was just 'Wot?, 'Eh?' and 'Uh?' for a couple of minutes. Someone finally made a comment about 'Crewe away', so I assumed Borough were going up to Cheshire. Wrong. When I got back to the flat in Silverdale Road, I found they’d been handed a home tie against Weymouth or Hitchin.
The weather had taken a turn for the worse by Sunday, with heavy rain and a strong wind in evidence as 'The Barber' set off for AFC Wimbledon v Barking in The FA Women’s Cup First Round Proper. I got to Waterloo to find there were no trains to Norbiton, the only station near the ground, so I’d have to travel to Kingston by a circuitous route and look for a bus there.
There were some oddities at the start of an extraordinary game. A Dons player wearing No.6 put on a ‘keeper’s jersey and her side kicked off with just ten players. They were bottom of the South East Combination League after losing all eight games, their goal difference was -57 and their last two outings had finished 0-10 and 0-12. Well, of course they won!
Visitors Barking looked useful, scoring after ten minutes and leading 2-1 and 4-2 before the home side went mad. It finished 5-4 in the Dons’ favour and there were five goals in one nine minute spell. It was fantastic entertainment in difficult conditions. The crowd of 28 certainly got their money’s worth.
I was down in Sussex for an FA Cup replay last night, making my first visit of the season to Lewes’ famous 'Dripping Pan' ground. The Rooks got through to the First Round for the first time in their 116 year history in 2001 and I was privileged to see their tie at Stoke. They put on a gutsy display to beat Grays 2-0, earning themselves a tie at Mansfield, and there were fireworks at the end.
After getting back to town, I found myself on the platform at Earl’s Court tube talking to the Leicester City mascot. He was dressed as a big blue fox and took his big fox head off to ask me if the next train was going to Edgware Road.