“Where did that fog come from?” asks Steve Barton. Two matches in the Ryman South were abandoned with the scores at 1-1, but the Under 18s beat the mist and VCD Athletic 2-0 in the John Ullman Cup First Round.

Just eight sides were in contention for the Ryman’s Women’s Cup. The first semi-final will be between Enfield Town and Haverhill Rangers. Gillingham defeated Eastbourne Town 5-0 to set up the other semi for the winners of Herne Bay and Maidstone United. Maidstone are at Level Five (London and South East Regional Women’s League Premier Division) whilst Bay are at Level Seven (South East Counties Women’s Football League Division 1 East) in the Ladies Pyramid. Within 38 seconds Vicky Holness had put Herne Bay ahead. The ladies rose to the challenge, understood their roles and responsibilities and produced a disciplined performance from back to front. A major, but deserved, shock was on the cards until the 94th minute when a speculative 35 yard strike from Maidstone’s midfield sailed into the net. The brave five stepped up for the penalty shoot-out. Maidstone missed two and Lesley Kay, Vicky Holness, Kate Foster and Debbie Blackmore all found the target for Bay to go through 4-3. In less than a year and a half since Herne Bay Ladies formation this is the biggest scalp yet. The down side was an injury to last season’s Most Improved Player Charlie Hayes who before joining the Bay had never played football competitively. Next up is Gillingham who are top of the FA Women’s Premier League Southern Division (Level Three). The two teams met in the same competition at Winch’s Field last season where the Gills came out 5-0 victors, The match will be played on 14th January 2014 at Winch’s Field.

Tooting & Mitcham United were the visitors to Winch’s Field in Herne Bay’s first ever match in the Ryman League in August 2012. It was the away side who scored the only goal of the match with just minutes left on the clock. Imperial Fields was the venue for Bay’s first away fixture of this season. It ended in another 0-0 draw. They returned this week. Up to Saturday’s round of matches Tooting sat in 11th place, 4 positions and three points above the Bay. The Terrors last eight outings have seen them win five and lose three, including a 2-1 home victory over Worthing last time out. Meanwhile the Bay have won three, drawn one and lost four from their last eight. Saturday saw a narrow 1-0 defeat at high-flyers Leatherhead. Nathan Eastwood was available for selection again after his suspension but Joe Nelder and Ben Brown missed out with one match bans following five bookings each.

This game was Bay’s 31st of the season and with interest I thought I would check to see how many of those we had won and I had written the match report. The answer was a simple round number – 0. It was with some trepidation that I discussed with Peter Guise who should write this one. I had already predicted a 3-1 win on Facebook so with supreme confidence that my appalling fortune could not get any worse I took out my notebook and pen. The pitch, despite Deery’s best efforts, was a quagmire but it was one of the best true football matches to be played at the Field of Dreams for a long time and both teams should be commended for that. It helped of course that we won 3-1 (Tunji, Kingy and Danny W) and that to a man it was 90+ minutes of great effort and three more points on the board. And did I feel bitter that Baz, Mick O and JDiL all had money on 3-1? Sure as hell I did!

We are now in 13th place, 7 points off the play-offs and 9 points away from the relegation zone, which shows what a tight league it is this season.

How are we doing compared to last season? I’ll tell you:

After 21 matches, we have won one more, drawn one more and lost two less. We have scored 14 more goals and only conceded 3 more. Our goal difference is +2 rather than -9, we have 4 more points and are 5 places higher in the table.

That's better isn't it?

It was a tough one for the Under 21s, lying in fourth place against fifth position Bridon Ropes. Bay won 2-0 and moved to the top of the league. The Reserves/Under 21 is in transition in Kent as the various leagues struggle for supremacy. The Kent League (now known as the Southern Counties East League) disbanded its Reserve division through lack of numbers. The Isthmian League’s Under 21 League, whilst containing Kent sides Thamesmead, Maidstone, Whitstable, Margate and Ramsgate, also includes Sussex and Surrey sides, involving maybe too much travel. The KCFA are considering introducing an Under 21 league next year. We are firmly aligning ourselves and supporting the present NRG Gyms Kent County League Under 21 League. The Under 21s are still in the Kent Intermediate Cup and have an away tie on 18th January 2014 at Sutton Athletic in the quarter-final. The winners will meet either Deal Town or Hollands & Blair.

The end of the year sees Ben Smith’s Under 18s in third spot in the Kent Youth League Premier Division following a 4-1 win at bottom-side Lordswood. The Under 18s are still in the running in three cup competitions. In the Kent Under 18 Youth Cup they will travel to Bearstead on 26th January 2014 in the fourth round, whilst in the Lucas Fettes Youth Cup on 7th January 2014 Worthing will host the quarter-final. The third competition, the John Ullmann Memorial Cup will involve another trip, this time to Welling United, date to be confirmed; the winners to meet either Horsham or Fisher in the quarter-finals.

The Somme-like conditions of Winch’s Field led to the moving of the Second Round Kent Plate tie against Rusthall to Bell Meadow, St. Nicholas-at-Wade. Rusthall were third in the South East Counties Women’s League Division One (West) and Bay were second in the South East Counties Women’s League Division One (East). Not surprising after Thursday’s exertions the game was hardly a classic but Bay came out on top 3-1 thanks to Vicky Holness (2) and Harriet Chapman. Holders Herne Bay will now host Thanet Colts in the quarter-finals on 19th January 2014.

Dipping temperatures in the run up to the holidays. The southeast may remain dry with some sunshine and light winds throughout the week. Temperatures are likely to dip slightly to around normal for this time of year, perhaps slightly below average at times in the northwest. The more benign conditions in the southeast may come as a double-edged sword as temperatures here could be rather cold at times with some overnight frost or fog developing. Where any fog persists during the day it will feel cold.

Walton Casuals finished bottom of the Ryman League South last season, but by some strange quirk of fate were reprieved from relegation. The away tie was drawn 1-1 in December (Dan Wisker scored) and in the return fixture at the Field of Dreams Bay were hammered 4-0. The original date for this season’s tie was early November but the wet stuff put paid to that, thus the rearrangement for a cold December Tuesday night. At that time Bay were on a roll with two four goal victories and Walton Casuals had picked up just one point from six against relegation-threatened Eastbourne Town and Chipstead so it may have been a good time to play them. The Stags are now in 4th place 13 points above Herne Bay but Bay have a game in hand.

For the first time for a few weeks there will be no Bay players suspended. Connor Sanders and Sam Hasler are one yellow away from a one-game ban before the 31 December cut-off date. From then on the suspensions will kick in after 10 bookings.

Then the last game before Christmas. The logistical nightmare of transferring the squad, management, committee and supporters over to the Channel Islands to meet Guernsey, and fingers will be double crossed that the kit can make it there and back without incident. The players, bench and physio will have the luxury of a hotel room in Gatwick on Friday evening whilst the rest of us will be up at stupid o’clock to make the flight(s) to the Bailiwick. There is also at least one person catching the ferry from Weymouth, and no it is not Dennis Bergkamp.

It cannot be anything other than a memorable day, as was the opening day of this season on Sir Bobby Robson, Carnival and SpongeBob Square Pants day when Guernsey visited Winch’s Field. Sam Denly declared after the game that he was happy with the work rate and fitness levels of his players. “I’m disappointed to lose the game 1-0”, he said, “I thought we’d done enough to get something out of it. We conceded a sloppy goal and had our chances after it to get something out of the game. We’re showing good levels of fitness and on another day we would have come away with a draw or a win. We’ve come up against a good side and we’ve matched them.”

Guernsey were one of the pre-season favourites for promotion but at present stand in 7th place a couple of points away from the last play-off place and 12 points off the top. They have picked up just seven points from the last possible 18, although 5 of those games were on the mainland, and on Saturday were thrashed 6-2 at Horsham. But at home the Green Lions have not lost in seven outings. Both teams have played the same number of matches with Guernsey six places and five points above Herne Bay.

The Under 18s, Under 21s and Ladies now take a break until the New Year.

Applications have been received by the FA from those clubs wishing to move up to Step Four for the 2014/15 season (league positions allowing). Those that might move to the Ryman South are: Camberley Town (4) (Combined Counties League), Ashford United (1), Tunbridge Wells (2) and Whyteleafe (3) (Southern Counties East League) and from the Sussex County League Crowborough Athletic (6), East Grinstead Town (5), East Preston (1), Hassocks (3), Horsham YMCA (2), Newhaven (10). Current league positions are in brackets.

Out of the present bottom 10 sides in the Ryman Premier only Carshalton Athletic would be likely to move to the Ryman South if relegated. This could lead to Chatham Town returning South. Not wishing to comment on our esteemed suited colleagues within the FA or bringing the club into disrepute, the final shake-up could result in anything.

Fifty 50 Prize Club Application Forms are available from the clubhouse or can be downloaded from the club website. The more members the bigger the prizes. You have to be in it to win it!

The club announces the launch of a new fund raising scheme called "12th Man" which provides the opportunity for every supporter of the club to get involved in helping to field the strongest team that we can each week. Supporters are invited to join the scheme and pay any cash sum that they can afford weekly, the money raised to be used only for the club’s playing budget. Anyone can join and help or pay on a less regular basis, all help will be appreciated. The payment can be made across the Club Bar.

Herne Bay High School, Herne Bay Football Club Community Interest Company and the Charlton Athletic Community Trust are joining forces to develop the Herne Bay and Charlton Athletic Community Trust Football Academy for students aged 16 to 18 to start in September 2014. The Academy will be a two year full-time education and football development programme delivered by Herne Bay High School in partnership with Herne Bay Football Club Community Interest Company and the Charlton Athletic Community Trust. Students will have access to high level football coaching and fitness training. Students will also have the opportunity to achieve an FA Level 1 and Level 2 in Football Coaching qualifications. All training sessions and educational lessons will take place at Herne Bay High School, Bullockstone Road, Herne Bay, Kent, CT6 7NS.

The Academy will be open to any talented footballers aged 16 to 18. Both the football and educational element of the Academy will be fully funded. A playing trial will be required to support an application made on the appropriate form. The trials will take place on dates to be confirmed in 2014. Students should apply through the “kentchoices4U” website.

For further information please contact Daniel Gill at the Charlton Athletic Community Trust (Daniel.gill@cact.org.uk) or Nicky Bourne at Herne Bay High School (n.bourne@hernebayhigh.org) or Ron Boddy at Herne Bay FC CIC (ronald.boddy@btopenworld.com)

At this time of the year fixtures change quickly with the weather and cup commitments, make sure you visit the club’s website. www.pitchero.com/clubs/hernebay for up-to-date details and all the latest news.