Tinpot.......Of little importance or value.

Let's get the weekend round up out the way first. Twerton Park lived up to its expectations. On entering the ground, I asked a steward what the segregation arrangements were, and was told we could go where we liked, except for "Freeview Corner". As mentioned last week, I did advise the wearing of hard hats but the closure of half the end terracing has now resolved the need for protective headgear! Seems the chosen few have had their item lobbing entertainment curtailed! On the pitch it was a hard fought battle and a patched up Boro team once again brought a valuable point back to the Lane. So patched up was the squad that Gary Elphick came on as a makeshift striker and within two minutes had his head well and truly bandaged to stop the blood flowing from a nasty cut. For the second game in a week Matt Langston was up front and got the vital header to secure the draw, and there was a severe risk of Darren Baker getting a nose bleed from being so far forward.

One thing that did make a few of us chuckle was the ball boy arrangements. Note the use of the singular, as for the entire ground there was just one! Quite how the lad was supposed to collect and retrieve wayward footballs whilst taking pictures on his mobile with one had and chomping on a hot dog with the other never really got tested as the only time a ball vacated the ground, was when it flew over the main stand and landed in what I can only presume is a sort of "no mans land" (it was the middle of Freeview Corner, so one can safely assume that ball was never seen again) A sunny Sunday afternoon saw a few of us venture along the A27 to The Dripping Pan for an under-18s cup tie versus Lewes. The place hadn't really changed much since our last visit there for league action, but the bar now looks rather good with the walls covered in varying scarves from football clubs around the world (memo, must send them a Borough one and see if it takes pride of place). What took place on the grass, from and Eastbourne perspective was not such a welcome sight. Shaun has always put together good passing teams and when we scored out first, the odd Boro faithful must have thought it was going to be another routine day at the office. The young Rooks had other ideas and went on to record a very comfortable 6-2 victory. I know some of you Sports fans will not like the next sentence but Lewes have a very good crop of youngsters and it's from grassroots like this that future first team squads are made. Having lost a very bunch in recent times, all at the Pan are trying to bring on a fresh group of lads to progress up the pyramid. I wish them well.

So back to the title.... Tinpot.... As most of you all know, virtually all clubs have their own forums and messageboards, and many leagues do too. The BSBP is no exception and we have a lively national forum online. Run by some diehard football fans, it can be a source of great amusement and there seems to be strong camaraderie among many contributors. It has a language of its own(BELTS, PELTS and NLL to name a sample) and at times takes no prisoners. Some even come back after their teams have the audacity to leave the Blue Square premier!

From the forum was born Tinpot, a weekly prediction competition where some nine leagues of 14 "teams" try to outwit and out predict fellow Confforumers fot the title of being Totally Tinpot! With 126 predictions to check week in, week out, the fact that results are normally posted online by Sunday evening shows the dedication by the few that run the leagues. I will probably get castigated now for making it sound professional and not tinpot at all! So, having established the website and competition, the organisers decided to look at sponsorship of an individual in the non-league family...

If you google the word tinpot it will give you a variety of definitions, but all will come back to one simple meaning... Of little importance or value; insignificant, petty, inferior, There was only one person for Tinpot to back! Stand up, Mr Steve Evans!! Crawley's finest is now officially recognised as being, well, do I really need to go on??? In fact, not only is Steve's away kit sponsored by Tinpot, but also Cambridge United's Brian Saah's bootlaces!!! You have to have a sense of humour in non-league!!!

The BELTS of Luton are coming to town this week..... With only one season in BSBP, the Hatters are now settling in nicely, but will be intent on not becoming a PELT... I did say it had a language of its own!!

Readers who submit articles must agree to our terms of use. The content is the sole responsibility of the contributor and is unmoderated. But we will react if anything that breaks the rules comes to our attention. If you wish to complain about this article, contact us here