The 3,243 who travelled to Nottingham Forest will have seen just what Roy McFarland's side are capable of and the level of their performance certainly matched the superb support they were afforded. After staging a tremendous fightback from 3-0 down, Trevor Benjamin, whose goal had sparked the fightback and and who had been the hero in the previous round, saw his penalty saved to end our Cup run. However, as well as the excellent overall team performance, we unearthed another promising product of the Youth Team in Martin McNeil, who was outstanding on his full debut.

Off the field a large number of supporters encountered problems gaining entry into the ground and also further problems once inside. After receiving several complaints, all of which were saying exactly the same things, it was decided that the Club would write to Nottingham Forest for their observations on the problems mentioned. We had hoped to include their response in today's programme but at the time of writing a reply had not yet been received. We will, however, keep you informed of the situation.

The Manager's fears of a Worthington Cup hangover last Saturday were quickly dispelled as Alex Russell and Trevor Benjamin put us into a comfortable 2-0 half-time lead. The travelling fans have now caught on to Trevor's unique celebration and I'm sure it won't be too long before it really captures the imagination of the home support. Whilst one run in the Cup had ended at Forest our attentions were once again turned to Cup football and following another impressive victory it was into 'Studs' bar at Field Mill to watch the draw for the F.A. Cup live on Sky. As the draw progressed there were a few "No we don't want them" and subsequent sighs of relief as certain teams came out of the hat. Eventually number 40 came out of the hat away to Telford United and we now face a trip to Shropshire next Saturday. Admission will be pay on the day - £8 for adults and £5 for concessions, with a £2 transfer charge to the seating area. The ground is situated off Junction 6 of the M54 and further details of directions are available elsewhere in the programme. If a replay is required it will be held at The Abbey on Tuesday, 24th November 1998, kick-off 7.45pm.

On Tuesday evening we travel to London Road for the first of the local derbies against Peterborough United. The match is not all-ticket, but those wishing to purchase seat tickets must do so from The Abbey before Tuesday 12 noon.
No seat tickets will be available to visiting supporters on the night.

Last Thursday Wayne Andrews returned to Watford after his loan spell at The Abbey, after only featuring in the side twice. The rules relating to temporary transfers have changed from the previous allowance of five per season. A Club can now utilise up to 465 loan days each season, of which Wayne Andrews used 29, and can have up to eight players during the season.

Finally, in what is now becoming a regular slot in this article, I have been informed by Colin Faiers of various statistics relating to our attendances so far this season. The current average home League attendance is 3,251 only eight more than what travelled to Forest, which compares favourably to last season's League average of 2,898. League gates are 15% higher than at the same time last season and we also never averaged above 3,000 during the 1997-98 season. A lot of hard work has gone into producing these figures and dispels the opinion that 88% of statistics are made up on the spot!