Should be away in the land of nod as I write this. Tomorrow is the start of an exciting weekend round trip which includes significant personal and cultural commitments. Moreover, the weekend could lift Tortoiseshell's geocaching profile into the stratosphere - new caches, new TYPES of caches, and innumerable trackable items.Unfortunately, have been dogged tonight by a long-standing dental problem. This involves my gum flaring up like a dormant volcano every few years - usually when I'm on some kind of adventure. It marred the Hamburg and Montreal trips of 2001.
So tonight I've been downstairs with my jaw packed up in frozen sweetcorn - and 3 Anadin to boot. Oddly enough, it seems to have settled down a bit since I turned the pooter on and started blogging.If this wasn't bad enough - this news in from AFC Wimbledon towers. Hitherto, AFCW had been on a miraculous run in the FA Trophy - the main knock-out cup for the English non-league. They had already beaten two Conference sides (Aldershot and Gravesend & Northfleet, both away). They had been due to line up against former league side Rushden & Diamonds in the next round.
Alas - a statement from the FA. More alarming is the threat of a sanction by the Ryman League. This is clearly the lowpoint in the young history of AFCW since the clubs' formation from the ashes of Wimbledon FC in 2002...
"After an FA disciplinary hearing today, the club has been informed that AFC Wimbledon have been removed from this season's FA Trophy competition and Gravesend & Northfleet have been reinstated. The club will also have to repay £7,000 of prize money from the first round and the third qualifying round. The committee concluded that further FA sanctions would not be appropriate and therefore there has been no fine imposed and the club is free to enter the FA Trophy in future seasons. The decision is a consequence of an unfortunate administrative error and AFC Wimbledon is suffering a a result of an FA crackdown on such situations as evidenced by the sanctions imposed on Bury in relation to this season's FA Cup. The decision is final and binding and there can be no appeal. The club has also been informed that the Ryman Football League is charging us with a breach of league rule 6.1 in fielding a player before having obtained an international transfer certificate. The club will make a further statement at a later time."
