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Both. A lottery because it's possible for any side to win. For obvious reasons a full time side will have an advantage over a part time side.

Binfield who were occupying one of the two relegation places beat Northwood tonight 6-3 to pull out of the drop zone hopefully to stay out

Please clarify for me, are they:- 1. A lottery or 2. Stacked in favour of the full time clubs & players I can’t see how they can be both.

Tonights other game Truro v Weymouth ended 0-0

Yes Nearest ground to where I live I will miss them Finished off imo by the Leagues refusal to extend the season too many games in very little time

Shame, don't like to see any team struggle like they have since the autumn

Beaten 0. - 1 tonight and become the 4th relegated team.

0-0 at half time in the Taunton v Weston game. Taunton have 45 minutes to save their season.

Penalties are a lottery and the chances are stacked in favour of the full time clubs and players. Replays are guaranteed income and exposure for the smaller clubs.

Last night I was nominated to be the taxi driver ( please note nominated ) for my wife and friends for them to attend Drag Bingo in aid of the Stokenchurch Dog Rescue Centre. In the gap between taking them and picking them up i decided could I find a game to attend, I was in luck Rising Ballers Kensington were playing Molesey at Beaconsfield in div 1 of the Combined counties league. They were playing there just to complete their fixtures. Both teams were in with a chance of the play offs being in 8th and 4th at the start of the evening. I arrived at the ground at 7.30 and was lucky to find a parking spot in the main car park, I got out and headed towards the turnstile only to find it locked. I turned around and couldn't find anyone who was taking money and the only entrance that was open was the players so I gingerly walked in. Upon entering the ground i thought I'll go and sit in the main stand and enjoy the game, which I did. The teams came out to the roar of the crowd but I was wrong it was a lorry going onto the M40, at that stage the crowd was one, me. the teams swapped pleasantries and when that was done both linesman then decided to have a race to see who could check the nets and run back to daddy in the middle first, I'm pleased to say the linesman who went to the clubhouse end won, I knew that because when he got back to the middle he jumped up in air with delight. Anyway the game started but after 5 mins there was a pause in play so I grabbed the opportunity to count the crowd, total 9. Rising just blew Molesey away in the first half scoring their 4th just before half time resulting in a mass exodus of Molesey fans (all 5 of them) they were never to be seen again. That just left the 4 of us. The 2nd half was a much more even affair but Rising ran out 6-1 winners helping their chances of getting into the play offs. Overall it was a very entertaining evening. I believe that they have another game there tomorrow night against Windsor so if you are interested in going please check to see if is on before going. So I returned to pick the girls up who had a very good evening. For those who want to know the bingo callers name was Elsie Crumpet, Class. How was that HR and Bernie? Enjoy

It would appear that there is at least some pushback:

Bit by bit the FA Cup is becoming devalued as an inconvenience (at least by the big clubs), just like the FA Trophy.

I'm afraid I wouldn't have fancied us in extra-time or penalties, as the full-time element and/or 2-division gap would probably have come into play as these things tend to. Not a guarantee of course, as we beat Walsall (full-time, 4-division gap) and also Sutton United (on penalties)! The replay was an achievement and reward in itself; more exposure, a day out and a 3000+ crowd. If it doesn't suit the bigger clubs, then that's their problem for not winning the first game like they should have.

We are Hornchurch, Super Hornchurch.... So proud to be an Urchin fan. 1-3 Urchins Att 281 (then Hawaii 5-0 v Kingstonian for 100 goals & 100 points) To misquote Kevin Keegan: I'll tell you, honestly, I will love it if we do that, love it!

Or could be more of an opportunity for smaller clubs to knockout bigger clubs? Personally I would have fancied our chances in extra-time & penalties against Grimsby, rather than the midweek away replay.

The match programme: Devs Winslow UTD 18:4:24

Sorry to do yet another Tommy SteeIe folks but 'what a picture, what a picture, what a photograph' this time of Real Bedford Chairman Mr McCormack with Club Manager Rob Sinclair following Real Bedford's Championship win at McMullen Park on Tuesday evening:

They've well deserved to win the title. Played some very good football this season. Rob Sinclair is clearly a very good young Manager.

A reminder of this evening's fixtures: Thursday 18 April (kick off 7.45pm unless stated) Premier Division Aylesbury Vale Dynamos v Stansted Baldock Town v Leverstock Green Potton United v Cockfosters London Lions v Colney Heath (kick off 8.00pm) Division One Buckingham FC v Rushden & Higham United Burton Park Wanderers v Raunds Town Cranfield United v Northampton Sileby Rangers Huntingdon Town v Ampthill Town Langford v Letchworth Garden City Eagles Leighton Town Development v Winslow United Division Two Aston Clinton v Pitstone & Ivinghoe (kick off 6.30pm) Eynesbury United v New Bradwell St Peter

A recent interview with Mr McCormack, by Media and Communications Manager Will Roberts, following Real Bedford's Championship win on Tuesday evening as well as the $4.5 million investment in the Club: Chairman Peter McCormack provides an update all goings on at Real Bedford after a historic week for the Club.

Another groundhopper from another Forum was at Chalk Lane on Tuesday evening: And another at Chalk Lane for Cockfosters 0 v 0 Milton Keynes Irish. A reasonable enough contest despite the lack of goals but it became clear early on that this was a tired performance from the second placed visitors who could easily have lost over the course of a second half where they were often having to defend in depth and what also was a feature of the visitors was the amount of times that they conceded possession on the edge of the Cockfosters area in positions that they could have made far more advantageous. It was also the case that both teams struggled on the well grassed but uneven pitch which gave the impression that it was very soft underneath. The obligatory huge amounts of expended player effort which had little effect in the early minutes and it took over twenty minutes for either team to have a shot on goal and even this in the form of a very softly struck chip from Nathan Smith for MKI was one that did not mean that Tiernan Parker in the home goal had to move an inch before safely gathering. The only other incident of note over the course of the first half was the long throw from Jay Lovell for Cockfosters as outlined in Mr Nagasaki's excellent resume which caught Tom Ladyman in the MKI goal unaware and he was fortunate that he managed to gain control literally on the goalline with the surrounding home players all claiming that the MKI keeper had carried the ball over the line. The second half was much more watchable but there was little indication throughout that we were watching a MKI team that had the slightest of chances of winning the SMLP title at start of play and had only lost two league matches this season. Barely a chance created over the course of the duration and the closest that they came was when a clearance from Parker rebounded off of the back of Andre Olukanmi and fortunately for Cockfosters travelled at ninety degrees along the six yard line rather than towards the goal. In contrast the hosts were increasingly the more positive going forward with MKI defending deeper and deeper as the second half progressed but for all their efforts in the final third they could not find a way past Ladyman whose saves kept the scores level. The best opportunity for Cockfosters arrived on the hour when a deft chip forward from Matt Thomson was met by an equally deft shot from Quelle Weeks but travelled narrowly wide of the far post. In the final fifteen minutes the more likely outcome was for Cockfosters to take the lead but further saves from Ladyman ensured a goalless outcome, one that means that the SMLP title was won by Real Bedford who won 2-0 against London Lions. At the start of play it required a very unlikely set of scores for MKI to overhaul their title rivals advantage and their performance here gave the impression that they had acknowledged that the title race was over. Of greater concern for MKI is that over the past few weeks there has been a dip in form with a number of drawn outcomes meaning that the title race concluded prior to the final day of the season, a little worrying in that the twenty plus points advantage that they have over the other teams contesting the Play Off's counts for nothing when the additional matches get under way. Due to its propensity to waterlog, Chalk Lane is rarely visited as a midweek venue even though it is an easy journey barely five minutes walk from Cockfosters LU station. As was stated in the earlier report, the programme is truly a labour of love with huge amounts of information and statistics crammed into its pages. Probably the best seen this season and commendable given that there are many clubs in that division that no longer produce even an online edition. Like our esteemed Japanese correspondent, I had to do a double take when the crowd of 146 was stated on Full Time, there might have been nearly a hundred watching but of course a proportion would not have paid to gain admission. Easy journeys in both direction, especially the return which was expected to be problematic due to a fallen tree leading to an earlier suspension of c2c services. All clear by the time of return and good connections at Finsbury Park, Highbury & Islington and Stratford meant an unexpectedly trouble free journey with The Riverbank locks being turned at 23.30.

For those wishing to join us, below are the train details for Saturday’s last away game of the season: Potters Bar Away. Meet at Upminster at 11:00 to get the 11:14 C2C. For those who wish to meet at Moorgate, we will be getting the 11:57 from there to Potters Bar. Breakfast in The Railway next to Hornchurch Station at 09:30 (if interested). Once in Potters Bar we’ll head to The Admiral Byng (Wetherspoons).

Be like the FA Trophy only difference both teams have to agree a replay or it.s extra time and penalties. Be a big miss for all non league and above players to show of their talents and possible big moves. Especially if picked for the tv not forgetting the loss of tv revenue.

One thing I was happy with the other night, is Torquay secured their safety so that’s one trip to look forward to as long as they don’t put it on a Tuesday Night - that would be typical

A groundhopper from another Forum was at Icknield Way: Tring Corinthians 0-1 Codicote Spartan South Midlands Division Two Admission - £3, Attendance - 42 (that’s the official but I counted half of that) Venue: Icknield Way - A lovely setting surrounded by fields, this ground has a tiny social club with beers on top and some food items. There is a small covered standing for around 6 people in the bottom corner of the pitch. Uniquely the changing rooms are in a block two yards offset behind the goal. No hard standing but you are permitted to stand on the touchline which again only has about 2 yards to a border fence. There isn’t much room for ground improvement if Corinthians want to step up as both touchlines are less than two yards from perimeter fencing or bushes. Game - a fast start from both teams but the home side looked more threatening shooting down hill. The pace continued and the first big chance of the game came for Codicote whereby a half volley was excellently saved by the Tring keepers feet. Codicote pretty much looked the likely team to score from then on in but no concrete chances were made. The main focus of the visitors was to hit diagonal balls through to their tricky left winger. Half time 0-0. Codicote took the lead around 10 minutes into the second half with a well worked throw in and played into the box for the arriving central midfielder to slot into the bottom right. 0-1. Tring made the Codicote keeper make a smart save low to his right after a period of pressure. From a throw in shortly after, the Codicote keeper pulled off two fantastic saves. The fast pace continued to the very end but Codicote ran out probably deserved winners. Both teams impressed and played some good football.