Tonic for the Troops

Mansfield Town 1 v Lewes 0
Blue Square Premier
07.03.2009

Prior to the game, troops from the Mercian Regiment, currently serving in Afghanistan were presented to the crowd. MTFC have given them free tickets to watch football at Field Mill.
A nice gesture y the club. Though you would've thought our brave lads had endured quite enough tedium already.

(Above) Watch out Sammy The Stag, that regimental mascot ram has got his eye on you.
(Below) The Mercian marching band walk around the pitch to the accompaniment of Corporal Rolf Harris playing 'Jake the Peg' on his 'Wobble Board' ... if you weren't there you'll never know, eh!? Diddle - iddle - iddle - um.
You'll also never know if that young lady in the West Stand lower tier sat next to the No Smoking sign was actually naked or if the camera is telling fibs.

(Above) The 22 Lewes supporters in a crowd of 2434 look on in hope, but probably not expectation from the North Stand, dotted around the yellow coloured letter 'A' wondering if this will be the moment when their run of consecuitive defeats comes to an end. Alas, it wasn't to be, the danger was cleared and Lewes chalked up their 13th loss in a row, by virtue of a solitary goal conceded when their otherwise impressive keeper Rikki Banks advanced too far from his line and allowed Nathan Arnold to lob the ball over him into an empty net. Few but true, well done Lewes fans, your loyalty is commendable.
A bit of an ugly win for the Stags. But after the handicap of starting the season with Billy McEwan in charge, points matter now, not pretty football for the purists. I've definitely seen worse games.
Elsewhere, there was a bit of a shock result as Ryton beat Consett by 3 goals to 2 in their Northern League encounter. Worksop Town grabbed another vital 3 points away at Prescot Cables and it was 'business as usual' over t'border as Celtic were knocked out of the Scottish Cup by odds on favourites St. Mirren. Hearts didn't play, they're concentrating on the league and consolidating European qualification ;-)

the66pow