Magpies in a flap over shake-up (30.01.03)

MAIDENHEAD United could face Tuesday night trips to Devon or Wales if proposals tabled at last week’s Ryman League extraordinary general meeting get the go ahead from the FA.
In an attempt to rationalise the many different leagues in England and Wales, it has been proposed that clubs are reallocated on a geographical basis, with United joining a Midwest League.
This would include teams such as Tiverton Town, Bath City, Newport County and Stafford Rangers, the latter meaning a 300-mile round trip.
All clubs at the meeting were asked to indicate their reaction to the proposals and not one club signalled an objection, with just three abstaining.
However, United do have reservations, particularly as the majority of the current squad are London-based.
Club vice chairman Jon Swan said: “From Maidenhead United’s perspective we would be very badly treated in terms of travelling expenses. It would treble our costs.
“Another problem we have is we’re trying to attract players from the London area. If they’re faced with long trips every week they might just sign for another club.”
On the flip side, bigger clubs should mean bigger gates at York Road, which could potentially more than compensate for the increased travelling costs.
And, if away trips were calculated in terms of time, rather than distance, United may be little worse off.
Swan added: “It took us two and a half hours to get to Bedford on Saturday because of the traffic. If we’re going to Bath, Chippenham or even Tiverton they’re straight down the motorway, so in terms of time it won’t be a hell of a lot more.”

Midfielder Matt Glynn took a small step towards the big time on Tuesday night, scoring for Charlton Reserves in a 2-1 victory over Chelsea Reserves. The Premiership club’s website decribed Glynn as ‘impressive’, casting some doubt on his long-term future at York Road.

A battling performance against in-form Bedford Town earned United another away point on Saturday, as the two teams ground out a 0-0 draw at the Eyrie.
However, despite the result, manager Alan Devonshire was not entirely happywith his team’s performance.
He said: “I was a bit disappointed really. I thought Bedford were there for the taking. Defensively we were a bit better than against Enfield, but I thought we could have passed the ball a lot better.
“There were quite a few players who had very average games.”
But he only had words of praise for on-loan keeper Adrian Blake, who made a stunning double save from the spot.
Devonshire said: “It was the second save that made it. He did great for us.
“It’s good he can go back to Slough with that performance behind him. He’s a good lad and I would just like to say thank you to him.”

Maidenhead United entertain Harrow Borough tomorrow (Saturday).
Devonshire said: “We always have good games with Harrow, so it’ll be interesting.”
“We should have won when we played at their place, but that won’t count for anything on Saturday. They had a good win last week, so they’ll be up for it.”
There are also injury worries hanging over Andy Cook, Craig Webster and Andy Morley, while Adrian Allen and Paul Kelly will face late fitness tests.
However, Richard Barnard is expected to make a return to action tomorrow, while new signing Dean Coppard, a 21-year-old defender, may get his first start .

Tuesday night’s home game against Heybridge Swifts has been called off.