Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls and a warm welcome to krbs Priestfield for this afternoon's encounter with Carlisle United. This will be our third home league game in just twelve days and I would like to thank you all for your tremendous support.

I was particularly pleased with the professional approach that our players took towards last weekend's FA Cup tie with Burton Albion. Our visitors were high in confidence after enjoying an excellent start to their first ever Football League campaign and set out to frustrate our advances in an extremely physical fashion.

Our two strikers came in for some particularly close attention while Barry Fuller did well to last the 90 minutes after a somewhat robust challenge from Guy Branston. The fact that our players refused to rise to the bait and continued to play football is testament to the character Mark Stimson has instilled in the side, character which was rewarded with a fine strike from Curtis Weston to settle the tie.

Sunday's draw was a nail-biting tie affair and I'm sure, like me, you were dreaming of a trip to Old Trafford as the final four balls came out of the pot but instead we will have to prepare for a trip to Accrington or Barnet. Wherever our fate lies we must ensure that we prepare for the game in the same fashion that put paid to Burton to give ourselves the best possible chance to progress to Round Four. With luck Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool etc will still be in the hat waiting for us when we get there.

Back to League matters and I can only apologise to supporters that made a frustrating and in many cases futile trip to Leyton Orient on Tuesday night. Obviously the Police's decision to close the A12 was beyond our control and by the time the severity of the situation became clear our kit, several players, all of the Kent press core and hundreds of supporters were already caught up in the unfolding misery.

For reasons best known to referee D'Urso, the decision was taken to proceed with the match at the scheduled kick-off time. This conclusion gave not only our own supporters but also many Leyton Orient fans very little hope of making it to the Stadium in time and I know that many of you were forced to abandon your efforts and head for home. The subsequent 1-3 defeat means that our protests may look like sour grapes but in my opinion we are in an entertainment business and to deny fans the chance to see the match is not acceptable. Mr D'Urso has since commented that he was applying the letter of the law but surely such circumstances call for a little common sense.

Following events at Brisbane Road we could do with putting some points on the board this afternoon and a little distance between ourselves and the teams at the bottom end of the table. With the experienced heads of Ian Harte and Graham Kavanagh in their ranks, Carlisle are sure to present a tough challenge, but we have enjoyed an excellent run of form at Priestfield this season. I'm sure that if you can get the Stadium rocking again today, the team will not let us down.

Up The Gills
Paul D.P. Scally
Chairman