Boston United 4 Buxton FC 1

Mrs P has joined the anti-rugby brigade, courtesy of ITV’s decision to cancel Coronation St in favour of England v Tonga. Like I said before, surely ITV 4 is tailor-made for minority sports?

I could write a book on Boston United, being a Lincoln City fan I have little sympathy for them. The Taxman can’t come today; he spent enough time here during slimy Steve Evans’s period in charge, inspecting the “cooked” books.

For a five year period, they failed to declare over a quarter of a million pounds worth of PAYE and National Insurance contributions; cheating their way out the Conference at the expense of Dagenham and Redbridge.

Football never fails to surprise me; this crook is now at the helm of Sussex Blue Square Conference team, Crawley Town.

Still this little club court controversy, recently they signed full-back Rob Wesley, who is serving time at nearby North Sea Camp open prison. He took part in cash machine raids at supermarkets and slashed a horse to death.

In the programme they have a Q&A profile on him. One of the questions is what is your favourite electronic gadget? I thought his answer might be the electronic tagging device he probably has wear on match days. Sadly he shows no sense of humour. Playstation 2 is the predictable answer.

Crap author, Jeffrey Archer, had a short spell at Boston. Unfortunately this too was at North Sea Camp. He was jailed for four years, not for writing atrocious literature (although the judge should have added a year on for that) but for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

The journey to Boston is a shocker. You go through the bottle-neck of Grantham and along the dangerous and laborious A52. I park on a cul-de-sac and head for one of my all-time fave chippies, Eagles.

It’s £4 for fish and chips and I wash this down with a fine pint of Bateman’s at the snug Coach and Horses. There’s the sound of ambulances in the distance and the voices of Eastern European children in the streets playing. I imagine it to be a bit of a scary place at night.

Today’s game is an FA Cup tie, I pay £12 entry fee and a further £2.50 for a programme. York Street is blessed with beautiful sunshine today. Pre-match music sinks to an unthinkable low with Abba’s Lay All Your Love on Me. Neil Vickers is making his debut on the public address system, and he is having a nightmare. His microphone is Norman Collieresque and he stumbles and stutters his way through the starting line-ups.



The Pilgrims begin the game with wave after wave of attacks. Former imp Matt Bloomer fires a shot in from the edge of the box, the ball falls fortuitously at the feet of ex Ipswich forward Kieran Leabon, he makes no mistake. They are soon two up courtesy of a David Galbraith penalty following a blatant foul on O’Halloran.

Buxton begin to find their feet after their early wobble, Towey and Macpherson go close. An Ellender own goal puts them back in the game. Their approach work is tremendous but they are lightweight upfront. The Pilgrims’ centre pairing of Ellender and Crane are too strong for the slender front partnership of Bingham and Reed. The former is trying, the latter barely breaks sweat.

Adam Smith, is on loan from The Posh and is getting some joy down the left side, he floats a delightful ball to the far post for John Froggatt to make it 3-1. The game is no contest on 52 minutes with Leabon getting his second of the afternoon following good work by O’Halloran.

Buxton hit back and former Manchester United trainee Lee Crockett has to be at his best to keep out a Ridley drive and a follow-up from sub Paul Walker.

I see my best individual performance of the season from a player today whose side are 4-1 down. Buxton skipper, Anton Foster, is inspirational. He fights tooth and nail for every ball, closing down his opponent rapidly. His feet are quick, his passing incisive, he wants it so badly. At 27 years old it’s not too late for him to play higher up the pyramid.

I’ve enjoyed the day and not the drive, Boston played some sparkling stuff and it will be interesting to watch their progress in the Blue Square Conference North.

Boston 4 Leabon 2 Galbraith and Froggatt Buxton 1 Ellender og.

Attendance: 1347

Man of the Match: Anton Foster.