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There is little doubt that we would have preferred a better start in our league programme at least but conversations after our defeat to Dunston on Tuesday evening were generally fairly positive rather than the tone of despondency we experienced last season. Although results haven’t exactly gone our way most comments in the bar after the match centred around the quality of the football we are producing and, by and large, our supporters seem pretty much on board with the entertainment we are providing. Certainly one or two things need some fine tuning but the feeling seems to be that things will pick up once we can get a win under our belts.

What better time for that to happen than this afternoon when we take a break from league matters to hopefully continue our progress in the FA Cup competition. This is important to all clubs at our level for two main reasons. Firstly, and probably most importantly, is the financial impact a good cup run can generate. Prize money for getting through the various rounds can get quite significant and managing to progress to the later qualifying rounds can have a serious impact on matters further down the line once the run has come to its conclusion. It’s common knowledge that Ossett United, almost since inception has been struggling with debts which were out of the current administration’s control. A couple of more rounds might even allow us to start seeing some light at the end of the tunnel.

Although Wythenshawe are a Step 5 Club we will have treat them with the utmost respect and be at our best if we are to extend our cup run. They currently sit second top in the North West Counties Premier Division with four wins from four outings and have notched 16 goals in the process. In their preliminary round tie they defeated Bradford based Campion who themselves are no mugs and are unbeaten in three in their league so they will provide formidable opposition.

Secondly a good FA Cup run raises the profile of the Club on a national scale and that can only be of benefit in all kinds of ways. It is normally the case that attendances are above average for FA Cup games as, at Non League level at least, the competition attracts greater interest from near and far. This is one of the main differences between Non League football and the professional game. For Non-