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Friday 30th October 2020

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Covid-19: League row after Lymington call o match

LYMINGTON Town’s top-of- the-table clash with Fareham Town was called off at the last minute after the club refused to play, going against league advice. Lymington manager Dave Lewis received a positive test result on Thursday before two first-team players, Sam House and Owen Fee, were told on Saturday morning they must also self-isolate. The club contacted the Sydenhams Wessex League and were told the match must go-ahead. However, despite this the club and the matchday referee felt it was best to postpone the game. Lymington manager Dave Lewis told the A&T: “I woke up on Monday with a mild cough and didn’t think much of it. By Tuesday, my temperature had skyrocketed and I was told to go for a test at a Covid-19 drive-through site. “The positive test result came back on Thursday evening around 6pm, and we phoned the league straight away the next day, but were told to go ahead with Saturday’s match against Fareham. “I was self-isolating at this point, but first-teamers Sam House and Owen Fee, who work together, received a message at 11am informing them that someone at their

Bob Purkiss MBE

instructed to self-isolate, must do so. “Each club is required to have 16 players registered with the league. We were told about a manager and two players, which is no grounds to cancel the match. To qualify there would have to be at least three or four first-team players unavailable, but we take it case by case, so that is not a set number. “An unfulfilled fixture penalty is a minimum amount of £250 and a maximum of £1,000. Regulations state when a match is unjustly postponed the league can either deduct three points from the offending team, award three points to the affected team or apply a fine.” Lymington Town have yet to be told their punishment.

Lymington manager Dave Lewis

workplace has also tested positive and they needed to self-isolate. Later in the week both players’ test results came back negative, but they are still required to self-isolate for 14 days. Lewis continued: “We contacted the league again and told them that we don’t think it’s safe to play. In response, the chairman Nick Spencer and Bob Purkiss, the league’s Covid-19 liaison support officer, instructed us to call up reserve team players and honour the fixture. “We had rested five players in our previous fixture in preparation for our match against Fareham. We told

Lymington Town’s Sports Ground home pictured before the coronavirus pandemic

them we weren’t concerned with filling the team and that some things are bigger than football, but they insisted we provide evidence before kick- off or the match would have to be played. “There was no time to provide the evidence, and we feel like the league was putting football before lives. We felt we had a duty of care towards our players, the committee, supporters and

Fareham Football Club. Our consciences wouldn’t allow us to play the match. “As a club, we decided to call off the fixture. I’m incredibly proud of the courage the chairman and committee displayed. “Since then, the league has charged us for not playing because they have a flow chart of steps clubs need to take. One of those steps is to provide evidence, but the virus

doesn’t follow flow charts and we didn’t have time. This isn’t a football issue, it’s a human one.” Sydenhams Wessex League’s Covid liaison officer, Bob Purkiss MBE, told the A&T: “We followed the Football Association’s and Department for Media Culture and Sport’s guidelines to the letter. There are strict protocols for steps six and up, and with the Wessex League

Premier League and Division One, we’re step five and six. “Under the rules, a match will only be called off if clubs have provided medical certificates and they cannot field a full side. We asked them to forward the information they had received from Test and Trace. “FA guidelines state football is not a close-contact sport so only the player who tested positive, or has been

Santi first British boy on Euro podium in 20 years Sailing ROYAL Lymington Yacht

Club’s Santiago Sesto-Crosby has become the first British boy to finish on the podium at the Optimist European Champion- ships in 20 years. The event was the most im- portant race in the optimist race calendar after this year’s world championships was can- celled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The last British sailors to finish on the podium at the championships were David Ev- ans in 2000, and Olympian Nick Thompson in 1999. The Optimist class is a youth class for sailors up to the age of 15. Santi turned 15 days after the championships finished. Priestlands student Santi said: “My dream was to be the best ever British Optimist sail- or at the world championships. But that was not to be, when the worlds got cancelled after a long wait during lockdown I thought my oppie days were over. “Then a new European cham- pionships were organised and this time all the ‘A teams’, in- stead of ‘B teams’, were going to take part. It was not easy for GBR to send a team. But thanks to the work of all the parents, and a bit of luck, we made it. After six qualifying races, the 156 competitors were separat- ed into gold, silver and bronze fleets. Santi, in fifth place over- all, earned a spot in the gold fleet to race for the European title. The final day’s racing was cancelled when host nation Slovenia’s upgraded their Cov- id-19 restrictions. After eight races, the top three European boys were Italy’s Adriano Cardi Quan, Austria’s David Rhode

(Photo: Les Chase)

Bashley goalscorer Lewis Ross shows his trickery

Shaftesbury withstand early Bashley barrage Sydenhams Premier League Bashley FC 2 Shaftesbury FC 3 struck the Shaftesbury woodwork with a long-range free-kick. The match, although The home side refused to let their heads drop, and they scored straight from the kick-off with an 83rd-minute Cameron Beard equaliser after a neatly headed pass from Ross.

Santi in action at the European Championships in Slovenia, and (inset) with his bronze medal and trophy

Nik Froud and Max Moyles, national coaches like Sarah McGovern, Robbie Burns and Tom Hayes. David la Brouche, Pieter van der Brosche, Mauro Berlotti, Simone Ricci, Rodrigo Benedetto and my final coach, Ollie Hill, who was with me at the Europeans. “I would also like to thank the Beaulieu Beaufort Foundation, North Sails and Winner Team for all their financial support.” Santi’s impressive season has seen him nominated in the Youth Sailor of the Year category at the British Yachting Awards. To vote for the Santi, visit britishyachtingawards.com/ santiago-sesto-cosby

before winning two other major international events. Santi was joined on the GB optimist team by fellow RLymYC members Emma Breese, and GB Optimist coach Ollie Hill. Unfortunately, only one race was possible for the girls, with Emma Breese best placed in 31st. Santi added: “This marks the end of an era for my family and me. “All I achieved is thanks to them, other families from Lymington and abroad, like the Valencia families and the Cayman families. “All my coaches, too, like Royal Lymington Yacht Club’s

and GB’s Santiago Sesto-Cos- by. Santi continued: “It was a very tricky event, very shifty, without any sort of patterns and in super light conditions. Boat speed was the key component to success, as well as boat handling. “Just to stay with the leaders, your tacks and manoeuvres had to be flawless. “The event had an abrupt finish, and I was so relieved to have been in a podium position.” The European bronze medal caps a wonderful season for Santi. At the start of the season, he became the Optimist national champion

entertaining, was one-way traffic with Bashley pinning Shaftesbury back. But Bunce’s goal, which came after the player skipped past two before firing past Paul Woods, sparked the visitors into life. With one of their first chances of the match, Shaftesbury forced Bashley keeper Harry Gravett into conceding a corner. Shaftesbury took advantage and centre-half Ryan Mitchell buried his header. Bashley continued to dominate, but Shaftesbury yet again scored against the run of play when Jordan Matthews was put through on goal by Connor Millar.

BASHLEY laid siege to the Shaftesbury goal andcouldhave scored on multiple occasions, but ultimately Shaftesbury sealed all three points at the Glen Max Stadium on Tues- day. Harry Bunce broke the deadlock on 69 minutes. But in truth, Bashley should have already put the game to bed after missing a glut of chances throughout the first-half. The most noteworthy of these missed opportunities came around 50 minutes when Lewis Ross rounded the keeper before a defender cleared his goalbound effort off the line. Ten minutes later Bashley

It would be heartbreak for the season-high 270 fans in attendance as Shaftesbury found a winner in the 88th minute when Matthews scored from another corner after Bashley failed to clear the ball. The match ended in frenetic fashion with Bashley hunting an equaliser in a game they should have won with ease. Bashley: H. Gravett, B. Strickland, L. Farrugia, D. Thompson, J. Webber, L. Ross, O. Bradley, B. Morris, C. Beard, H. Morgan, H. McGrath. Subs: L. Aimson, S. Thompson, T. Betts, C. Whiteley, H. Bunce.

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