Kingstonian look for sixth goalkeeper by Nicholas Harling

A GOALKEEPING crisis will give Kingstonian little time to savour the satisfaction of confirming their return to form with a 5-2 win at Stevenage. Manager Geoff Chapple will be scouring his contacts for his sixth goalkeeper of the season for the FA Cup tie at Southport on Saturday week since first-choice Steve Farrelly is out for the season after a life-saving operation on Thursday and his immediate replacement Adrian Blake is cup-tied.

Farrelly, the 35-year-old England non-league international, who was in discomfort before the FA Cup triumph at Brentford, had an operation on a spinal abscess at the base of his neck. Blake, a former Kingstonian player who was signed on loan from Walton and Hersham, produced at least two excellent saves and had no chance with Stevenage's goals.

The first one, an exquisite effort from 35-yards by Dean Martin put Stevenage in front before spectacular long-range shooting and dubious goalkeeping by Paul Wilkerson enabled Kingstonian to take control. Geoff Pitcher and Colin Luckett hit two goals apiece to give them a 4-1 interval lead. "It was one of those games when you didn't want half-time to come," said visiting assistant manager Ian McDonald."

Kingstonian were hanging on when Nathan Bunce beat Blake before Sammy Winston secured their victory. Stevenage's dismay was matched by Yeovil's manager Colin Addison on his return to former club Scarborough. Yeovil would have gone seven points clear but for a injury-time penalty for handball lashed in by Simon Betts for a 2-2 draw.

ENGLAND KEEPER IN OPERATION DRAMA by Colin Mafham

Kingstonian Cup hero Steve Farrelly was stable in hospital last night after a three-hour operation to save his life. England semi-professional international Farrelly, who played a key role in the Conference giant-killers 3-1 win at Brentford last Saturday, was taken to hospital less than 24 hours after the game after collapsing in agony at his home.

The 35-year-old goalkeeper, who had complained of pains in his neck before the Cup game, thought he was suffering from a trapped nerve. But tests revealed a life-threatening spinal abscess at the base of his neck and he was rushed to the Atkinson-Morley Hospital at Wimbledon where surgeons operated on Thursday night. Doctors said Farrelly, who spent more than 24 hours in intensive care, was still in "a lot of pain" and would remain in hospital for some time.

He seems certain to be out of football for the rest of the season. Farrelly's fiancee, Yola Cursley, who has been at his bedside since he was admitted, said: "Steve's still in a lot of pain and is having morphine to help. But some of the other players are coming in to see him and hopefully that will cheer him up." She said that the couple, who plan to marry next June, were just grateful that the abscess was discovered in time.

Now Kingstonian manager Geoff Chapple has launched a frantic search for a new keeper in time for the FA Cup second round tie against Southport. "This is a massive blow for us," he said. 'Steve has been a key man all season and we're desperately sorry for the lad. It's tragic. "When he said before the Brentford game that he had a stiff neck and thought it was a trapped nerve we had no reason to think otherwise and iced him to ease the pain. We had no idea it was as serious as this. He performed brilliantly, but this has taken the shine off everything for us." Chapple is hoping to land a new keeper - on loan or on a permanent deal and who is not Cup tied - later this week.

The Leigh RMI game will be the first game at which seats in blocks E,F,G will not be available to current Season Ticket holders. All Season Ticket holders will be given reserved seats in blocks J and K for the period of the development. This should at this time only mean the Leigh RMI, Dagenham and possibly the Woking fixture on new years day. We apologise for this inconvenience, but to ease the inconvenience all Season Ticket holders will be invited to use the hospitality lounge prior to kick off for a drink and entry to their seats.

At no time has the club stated that the reason for the delay has solely been red tape. There are many issues which have caused the delay, one most certainly being the agreeing of the 106 agreement with the local council.This is a very complex agreement which the club and the council, must be in agreement with for both parties benefit. If we as a club agreed to certain parts of the original Document we would not have been acting in the best interest of the club, any commitment made now will stay in place for the duration of the clubs lease with the council (120 years). Despite many peoples comments regarding this a council meeting to ratify the final difference between both parties positions took place last Wednesday 8th November at the Guildhall. That is fact, hence the delay of a further 1 week on the actual demolition and construction starting. There is still an outstanding issue which we are still discussing with the Council.

The Council on their part have been extremely helpful throughout all the negotiations that have gone on, but they are also answerable to the relevant bodies that have made objections to the development and they have had to work towards finding solutions either through necessity or compromise over certain issues. For those who have criticised the club for its handling of the development, in some cases this criticism has been justified but in most it has been assumption based on rumour.

The club has throughout this whole episode acted in the best interests of the club, not for the benefit of individuals, but only to provide a stadium that can take the club forward when the time comes for the supporters and all those who genuinely want to see the club succeed.

K's ground boost

Conference side Kingstonian have finally begin building work to get their Kingsmeadow ground up to scratch. Work is scheduled to finish in January, with the new look ground having an increased capacity of 6,000, and just under 1,200 seats.

That would mean the ground meets the criteria for Football League entry. The club blamed council red tape and different costings for the delays.