WHO’S WATCHING? Although a good crowd went to watch Brackley come up against Leyton Orient, on the whole attendances in the FA Trophy were a little bit disappointing at the weekend
1. How is Jay Saunders faring at Margate?
Very well indeed so far! The former Maidstone boss took over at The Gate at the start of last month and is currently still unbeaten, having guided the Kent club to two wins and two draws.
Saunders is a well liked figure at Hartsdown Park, having made over 350 appearances during a 10 year stint with the club after joining as a 19-year-old.
As well as improving fortunes on the pitch, Saunders has also dipped into the transfer market, bringing in National League duo Kadell Daniel and Tobi Sho-Silva on loan from Dover Athletic.
2. What were the attendances like for the FA Trophy Quater finals?
In some respects they were rather disappointing. Just over 2,500 fans turned out to watch Stockport draw with Maidstone on Saturday, down from their attendance of 4,700 during the previous weekend’s victory over AFC Telford.
While only 795 fans were at Mill Farm to watch AFC Fylde dramatically book their place in the semi-finals on penalties.
On the other hand, Brackley managed to attract an impressive crowd of over 1,500 (up from 490 the previous week), as they came close to springing a surprise against Leyton Orient.
3. What is the state of play at the bottom of the National League?
The battle to avoid relegation from Step 1 has taken a number of twists and turns over the past week.
Aldershot continued their decent run of form with a crucial 1-0 win at Braintree to put themselves just four points away from safety, Havant & Waterlooville put in a battling performance to gain a point at Halifax, while Dover lost out to Maidenhead.
Meanwhile, Barnet’s drop down the division looks to be continuing after they fell to another defeat at home to Chesterfield last night.
One interesting point is that with so many Southern sides fighting down at the bottom of the National League, there could be a potentially messy re-organization of teams in Step 2 over the summer.
4. What is going on at Canterbury City?
To say that Canterbury City are currently going through a topsy turvey time is somewhat of an understatement.
On the pitch, the club are enjoying the most successful period of their history after reaching the FA Vase Semi-Finals on Sunday with a 2-1 win over Biggleswade.
However, away from the football, the situation is far more worrying.
The club were recently rocked by the news that the local council had rejected their proposals for a brand new stadium, which would have ended their 12 years of nomadic life.
Chairman Tim Clark believes that the ruling has put the club’s immediate future into real jeopardy and he is planning on entering a number of candidates in Canterbury’s forthcoming local elections.
5. Why is the semi-final line in the FA Vase slightly unusual this season?
Over the weekend, Northwich Victoria, Cray Valley PM, Chertsey Town and Canterbury City all kept their dreams of lifting the FA Vase alive by reaching the semi-final stage,
It is interesting to note that the final four of the competition does not contain a team from the Northern League.
The Northern League has traditionally dominated the competition, with the previous ten finals containing a team from the division in it.
Are we witnessing a potentially fundamental shift in the standard of Step 5 teams?
6. Are Bostik League fans going to be in for any enthralling title races this season?
In short, no. In all four Bostik League divisions it appears as though the title winners have already been decided!
Dorking Wanderers are running away with it in the Premier Division, Bowers & Pitsea have a nine point lead in the North, Hayes & Yeading have already found the net 100 times in the South Central and Cray Wanderers are fourteen points ahead of Horsham in the South East.
