Cup chaos

I'll start by gritting my teeth and saying well done to Histon on beating Leeds. Someone more magnanimous than me said of the Villagers that every dog has it's day. And even when the dog concerned is a mangy, part-time, mongrel that barks at black people, I suppose we should give them credit where credit is due.

I also don't blame them for postponing our new-years day get-together at their place in order to have a bit more time to prepare. I hope if we were offered that chance we would do the same. However, I do take a bit of umbrage with the shambolic Conference board for allowing them to do it.

If neither Histon nor Barrow were still in the cup, we'd be playing two league games in three days. Why do they have a different standard for league games than they do for the cup? Some teams are still going to have to play two matches in quick succession and may lose points as a direct result. Will they get the option to cancel their second game if they are in the midst of an injury crisis? At the other end of the spectrum, some teams (including ourselves) could end up without a game for two or three weeks, stopping any chance of taking momentum from the festive fixtures.

I imagine the Conference officials are working under the misguided, typically non-league, assertion that we all like to see our fellow Conference clubs do well. But is it really fair that they favour a few of their members (those still in the FA Cup) to the distinct disadvantage of the rest? Probably not, but then again, as we've seen numerous times over the years, very little in this division is done on the basis of fair play.