One positive aspect of the International break is that I get to catch up with the local team down at the Gallagher Stadium. I do enjoy the vibe at the Stones. If it's not the two old ducks sitting in the 'club shop' then its popping over to the 'sizziling' burgers (that's right sports fans) at the far end of the ground. There is a feel of real football here and this is backed up by the immense footfall that the club gets every week. This week saw an official attendance of 1,781, a little under previous weeks, but maybe that was due to the quite abysmal turn out from the 'Boring' Wood faithful. Either way the Stones fans were in terrific voice at the Town End and cheered their side vociferously from the off.
As it was an FA Cup qualifier, Steve Ward kept on his wig and beard combo as promised, to which the crowd roared 'you're not ginger any more!' He didn't look too impressed but on the whole the banter was rife and well received from all and sundry. Even two non-assuming PCSO's caught a bit of flack, to which they just smiled before moseying on to somewhere quieter in the ground.
So the football...did I mention those 'sizziling' burgers? I wonder if the owner of the van knows it's spelt wrong? Perhaps they don't care but I remember looking at the sign for a large part of the first half and wondering, what was going on. Anyhoo, the football was dire. Boreham Wood proved a bit more savvy than the Stones throughout the match and this really proved to be the difference between the two sides. Zak Attwood hit the side-netting in the first half and Wood's striker Simmonds popped up with a gifted chance from an Orlando Smith mistake, but fired deep into the Town End stand.
The noise continued, the banter got more cheeky and the football became more tepid. Something had to be done to change things going into the second half. No it wasn't the Stones banter about the Wood skipper being a he-she, it was some quite incredible refereeing decisions from man in black Nigel Lugg. Now, I am aware that I have moaned about refs quite a bit in my reports, but today's offering was truly woeful. You could see the cogs turning in old Luggy's mind, 'right we need a winner here, best do something...' and lo and behold the opposition team from the higher division were 1-0 up!
To be fair, Wood's first goal was extremely soft and a throw in into the box was headed into the corner of the net, by 'Stones own Jack Sullivan, much to the surprise of all around the ground. The three Boring Wood fans that made the journey celebrated and the rest of us were left to scratch our heads.
The second was a shocker though from the Luggster. A perfectly-timed tackle saw a howl of protest from the Wood bench. The Luggster again pondered his earlier predicament and gave a penalty. Soft, soft, soft. And thus endeth the game as Luke Garrard beat Worgan and the Stones were left thoroughly deflated.
However, they showed a bit of spirit and pressed hard, but the damage was done and Boreham Wood eased into the next round of the cup.
Luggy had a couple more tricks up his sleeve though as he sent off Mills for what seemed again like a very good challenge (damn, this lower league lark and their lack of video replays!) He also sent off one of the Wood team for an off the ball incident that appeared to be a headbutt. I am not 100% sure because by this stage I was off to the pub like a number of other fans.
Disappointing to say the least. However not as disappointing as waking up with a horrendous bug keeping me on the sofa for a majority of Sunday. I am loathed to blame those 'Sizziling' burgers, so it must have been old Luggy and his bewitching form of voodoo, leaving his final mark in the heart of Kent. As he made his way back to Hell and I felt sorry for myself under two layers of duvet, I am sure Team Saunders were dusting themselves off and getting ready to continue their impressive assault on the Ryman League. After all, there is always next year.
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