Welcome to Norton Nomads Football Club

After a fortnight's break, Nomads return to action on Sunday with a long trip to Wiltshire with a League match against Fox & Hounds.

Nomads are probably a touch fortunate that Fox & Hounds decided to swap grounds in the last minute, as their original venue in Sutton Veny is even further away then the Land Warfare Centre, which is more central to Warminster. Fox & Hounds re-formed this summer as the original club under the same name folded just a couple of games into last season. Before that they were known as Woolpack Wasps and had a couple of seasons in the Premier Division. A re-formed side usually goes into the season full of confidence, but Hounds haven't quite sparkled this season. They opened the campaign with a 2-2 draw at home to The Griffin, Hounds throwing away the lead twice and also had Sam Goldup sent off for two yellows. That was followed by a 3-3 draw at Bearberry and a 4-2 defeat at home to fancied Elm Tree Inn. They've also been knocked out of the Tony Whorlow Cup at the first hurdle with Purnells Sports beating them 5-2 in Paulton, but they put all their worries behind them a few days ago with a crushing 7-1 win over Dilton, a result which should kick-start their season. Their top scorers so far are Darrel Hitchcock and Stephen Timms with three each, Timms is a former Cock Inn Rangers (now FC St. George) player. Fox & Hounds have also added another former FC St. George player to their ranks, Sean Holton joining the club recently.

Paul Tarrant's side hope to continue their good start to the season where six points out of nine have been picked up in the League. He's boosted by the return of Chris Rogers from holiday and Kev Page from his absence, Paul Eastwood and Nath Witcombe also both likely to recover from injury in time. Adam Colbourne and Dave Nicholas are both definitely out, Colbourne stuck in Uni and Nicholas, yet to feature this season, is stuck in Sweden on holiday. Dave Chedgy remains a doubt with an ankle injury, as does Mark Stillman who is currently suffering with a heavy cold and sore throat. There has been no further news on whether Tom Ross or Andy Coombs will join the club but as Nomads have a three week break following this game something could be resolved in that time.

The two clubs have never met in any competition, the closest we've probably come is if any of the players have watched the 1980s classic Disney Film "The Fox & The Hound". I saw it last week. Not. We have though played once at the Land Warfare Centre, this was in January 2007 against SureSet Rangers. Nomads comfortably won 3-0 with Craig Maidment and Nath Witcombe (2) on the scoresheet.

After being paired with a Premier Division side in the Tony Whorlow Memorial Cup, Nomads' opponents in the Kevin Lucas Memorial Cup are from the opposite end of the scale - Division Two strugglers Dilton Rovers. The game will take place at Dilton Marsh Playing Fields on Sunday 2nd November. The winners will progress to the Quarter-Finals. Tie of the round is Badgers Hill (formerly Permaframe) facing Paulton Rovers, a repeat of last years final which ended 5-5 before being won by Permaframe on penalties.

Nomads beat Dilton 5-1 last month with Jamie Gulliford (2), Kev Lake, Nath Witcombe and Jon Girvan on the scoresheet. Dilton picked up their first point of the season a week later in a draw against SureSet, but have since exited the Tony Whorlow Memorial Cup at the hands of Bearberry Club and were on the receiving end of a 7-1 thrashing by Fox & Hounds. Despite that defeat, they went up a place in the table as Bearberry had 11 put past them against Elm Tree Inn at Norton Hill School. Elm Tree go ahead of Nomads in the league on goal difference, Nomads dropping to third. Pictured are the Nomads players who were on holiday in Butlins last weekend, the reason why the club cancelled their scheduled game with Westfield.

Nomads' record in the Kevin Lucas Memorial Cup isn't exactly great reading. Royal Oak hit 11 past Nomads in October 2005 at Gypsy Lane without reply and the following season saw Westfield Trojans knock Nomads out at Prattens. They eased to a 3-1 win with Gareth Edwards scoring Nomads' only goal. Last season we finally won a game in the competition, beating The Griffin 4-2, but then lost by the same scoreline in the next round against Premier Divison Farrington Albion.

It's only four games into the season, but Nomads are looking to add to their squad due to a recent lack of numbers, culminating in today's turn-out of 12 against Team Frome. With Paul Tarrant already replacing the injured Kev Martin, Nomads were forced to leave Liam Hunt walking wounded as he suffered a knee injury almost immediately after the substitution, he spent a majority of the rest of the game in the centre circle. Nomads had Dave Chedgy and Nath Witcombe (ankle), Paul Eastwood (knee), Kev Page (away), Adam Colbourne (Uni), Chris Rogers (holiday) and Dave Nicholas (not in the mood for playing football at the moment) missing from the Team Frome game, although bizarrely the Premier Division side only had two substitutes themselves, despite having almost 30 more players on the books than Nomads.

One player interested in joining is midfielder Tommy Ross, who has trained with the club a few times over pre-season. The 22 year-old is currently at Nottingham Uni but is apparently available most weekends and interested in signing up. As well as that, another midfielder, Andy Coombs (pictured), has also said that he'd be happy to sign on and be available to Nomads in any emergencies where they lack players, such as this morning. Coombs, 19, can play anywhere across the midfield as well as full-back. He also plays for Welton Rangers where Nomads goalkeeper Luke Tucker is his manager, and turns out for Clutton Reserves on Saturday afternoons. These potential signings would boost the squad to 21 players, though effectively 20 with Colbourne based at Bournemouth Uni for almost the entire season.

Manager Paul Tarrant, rumoured to be interested in strengthening the squad, was quoted as saying "we need to strengthen the squad".

Former Nomads defender Dave Southgate (pictured) is the proud father of a baby girl. His daughter, Holly, was born at 8.52am on Thursday 25th September. I think she was born in Bristol, but I can confirm it was definitely in a hospital and not in a stable or anything like that. Both father Dave and mother, Dave's fiancee Kirsty Lidbury, are understandably delighted. Holly weighed in at 9lb 9oz. Congratulations to Dave and Kirsty from all of us at Nomads.

Dave becomes the first Nomad, well, ex-Nomad, to become a father. Paul Matthews is next in the queue as his girlfriend, Emily Griffiths, is expecting their first child in February. They are also expecting a girl. We wish the four above all the best and hope to still see them in the future despite neither player still on the books at the club.

An injured and absentee plagued Nomads side put up a reasonable fight against Premier Division side Team Frome this morning in the Tony Whorlow Memorial Cup, but, like the three seasons before, they exited the competition at the first hurdle.

Things couldn't have got off to a worse start. Nomads kicked off, Gareth Edwards (pictured) lost possession, Frome's Jack Metcalf played it through and striker Mark Stevenson skipped around goalkeeper Luke Tucker before rolling the ball into the empty net, inside 20 seconds. It was pretty easy going for the visitors who oozed class at times with their quick closing down and incisive passing, though the second goal was a touch fortunate. Brad Sandquest's through ball took a deflection and fell right into the path of Karl Osborne, who had all the time in the world to take a touch and place the ball away from Tucker, who got a hand on the effort. Nomads in response found it hard to get going against superior opponents, Jamie Gulliford lofting a shot over the bar and Kev Lake firing into the side netting after a good ball by Liam Hunt being their best chances. Hunt was then guilty of giving away a penalty, Michael Stacey knocking the ball past him before running into the Nomads midfielder's trailing leg, referee Simon Myers pointing to the spot. Frome allowed sub Pete Hurle take the kick, and he toe-punted it at Tucker who tipped it onto the bar before Adam Simmonds was on hand to clear.

The second half was a niggly affair with referee Myers trying to let the game flow but sometimes missing a few tasty challenges with players from either side trying to keep their cool. Metcalf, the best player on the pitch, made it three after good play by Jonathon Douglas, Medcalf touching it past the advancing Tucker before cheekily back-heeling it in from six yards. Osborne and Stacey missed glorious chances and Gulliford had a goal disallowed for offside after a Lake through ball, but Nomads did get on the scoresheet just after the hour mark. After a few interesting goalkeeping efforts by Paul Parsons in the Team Frome goal, where he spilled the ball three times in quick succession, Craig Maidment played it back to Lake, who in turn tapped it to the late arriving Edwards. Edwards made amends for his earlier mistake by coolly curling it in past the unsighted keeper from 15 yards. Frome were given a scare when Gulliford made it 3-2, Jas Cripps' foray forward on the left wing saw him roll the ball inside to the unmarked Gulliford, who took his time to get the ball under control before his effort had just enough power to find its way past Parsons. Nomads never really looked like equalising, especially after they were effectively playing with 10 men due to injured Hunt having to stay on with no subs left, and the visitors made it safe with five minutes remaining. Metcalf's ball over the top saw Osborne bravely nick the ball away from Tucker when charging off his line, and he rolled the ball into the empty goal. Tucker and Cripps complained of handball and both were later booked for dissent, falling foul of the new respect to officials guidelines. Nomads instead drop into the Kevin Lucas Memorial Trophy, draw to be made at a later date.

Jamie Gulliford and Nath Witcombe hit five between them in another goal fest for Nomads. They got through a tricky first half to see off Bearberry Club, in a game which was competitive but probably didn't merit the six second half yellow cards.

Bearberry's Matty Jenkins spurned a great chance when he stabbed wide from a couple of yards out, but the visitors took the lead soon after. Goalkeeper Marc Cooper launched a goal kick which fell in between a huge gap between centre halves Kev Page and Jas Cripps. Gary Harvey raced onto it whilst covering defender Adam Simmonds came across to block him from scoring with what looked like an excellent tackle. However, referee Mark Mackay pointed to the spot, Harvey picked himself up to confidently hammer the ball into the bottom right hand corner. The lead didn't last too long as Nomads always looked a threat forward. Bearberry failed to clear their lines from a free-kick and gave Kev Lake time to loop a cross onto the head of Gulliford, who, unchallenged, headed into top corner. It was from another free-kick where Nomads took the lead. Bearberry defender James Lorimer inadvertantly flicked it onto Witcombe at the far post, and he stopped the ball dead in its tracks before curling it around Cooper from an acute angle. Bearberry equalised against the run of play when Joe Goudie's through ball caused confusion between Cripps and returning goalkeeper Luke Tucker. Tucker failed to pounce on the loose ball and Harvey notched his second of the game, rolling into the open goal. Harvey was prevented a first half hat-trick after Tucker heroics from a close range effort, whilst Witcombe, Gareth Edwards and Lake with a scissors kick came close to giving Nomads a first half advantage, Gulliford closest of all when he hooked an effort onto the underside of the bar.

The second half saw Bearberry wilt slightly. The impressive Harvey beat Page to the ball but could only roll wide with Cripps covering, and this proved to be the turning point. WItcombe, booked earlier for apparent sarcastic applause towards the ref, made amends by hitting a marvellous free-kick into the top corner after Paul White, who saw yellow, upended Lake. Craig Maidment headed over before Lake and Jenkins entered the referees notebook for a brief spat. Lake then had another assist to his name, his through ball to Gulliford took a deflection of Darren Flemming to fall straight into the strikers path, and he made no mistake. Lorimer brought down Gulliford as he was about to shoot, Witcombe insisting that he took the penalty to try and complete his hat-trick, rather than usual penalty taker Page. This didn't prove to be a wise move as Witcombe embarrasingly spooned his penalty miles over the crossbar. This was soon forgotten as Witcombe's through ball found Gulliford and instead it was the number 10 who completed his hat-trick, poking it past Cooper. Gary and substitute Adam Harvey were also both cautioned for persistant fouling and dissent respectively in the closing stages of the game.

Nomads' first venture into Ston Easton this season sees them take on old rivals Bearberry Club this Sunday, 10.30am kick off.

The Bearberry Club, situated in Westfield, is where Kev Page announced his plans to form his own side. A former Bearberry player, he also said that the new club, Norton Nomads, would use the Bearberry as their pub for after matches, which introduced this rivalry. Since then, Bearberry have often jokingly called Nomads their feeder club as Bearberry were in a higher league for the first two seasons, however in 2006/07 David Booth's side finished rock bottom of Division One and were relegated. Last season they finished below halfway, largely due to them finding it difficult to muster together 11 players for games which resulted in some crashing defeats, usually away from home, a low point being a 10-3 defeat against Dilton in the Cup when Bearberry fielded just 8 players. They were due to open their season at Dilton 10 days ago but the weather put pay to that so they instead began against Fox & Hounds last Sunday. The game ended in a 3-3 draw, Hounds' second draw in two games. Bearberry have never made any sweeping changes to their squad since its formation five years ago, their new signings this year being Darren Flemming, Ash Russell and Paul White. James Lorimer, a solid defender, hasn't signed on for them yet and it's looking unlikely that he will in time for Sunday's game.

Nomads recovered from their opening day defeat at Foresters Arms to plant five past Dilton last Sunday. They are boosted by the news that goalkeeper Luke Tucker is almost certain to return from injury, meaning that Page will be free to play outfield again. However, Page is a doubt depending on his weekend plans, and Adam Colbourne is only available for the first half if needed as he's sorting his move back to Bournemouth Uni. Paul Eastwood again misses out due to injury, but unless Dave Chedgy's had the mother of all hangovers which is still ongoing, he should make a comeback this weekend. Manager Paul Tarrant is also back after missing the Dilton game and will take charge again, he could fill a place on the bench alongside Assistant Mark Stillman depending on numbers.

The two clubs have met five times in the past, although three of them were friendlies. The first two games in August/September 2005 saw two victories for Bearberry, the first a thrilling 5-3 win at White City followed by a 3-0 win at Norton Hill Rec a week later. The next season, a much improved Nomads side saw them recover from an Alex McAlpine goal to win 4-1 at White City. Jamie Gulliford (2) an own goal and a Jon Girvan dipping shot saw Nomads through in a fiercely competitive game. The two league games last season saw Nomads complete a double over Bearberry. The first at a wet Ston Easton saw early strikes from Gulliford and Page set the way and Matt Crozier added a third near the end. The game was pretty bad-tempered, Jas Cripps' ill-timed lunge on Gary Chivers wasn't well received and other players had words throughout. The Bearberry were also riled by the resulting match report. The return game was on the final day of last season on a balmy May morning. Craig Maidment and Gulliford put Nomads in control whilst in between Adam Simmonds was rushed to A&E following an accidental clash of heads with James Bentley. Chivers pulled one back for Bearberry as they piled on the pressure but they couldn't find an equaliser as Tucker was in inspired form. The win saw Nomads clinch fifth place in the league.

Last season's bottom club Dilton Rovers were put to the sword by Nomads in a confidence boosting victory for Paul Tarrant's side at Dilton Marsh Playing Fields. In fact, the aforementioned Tarrant was away in Plymouth and missed the game, but his assistant Mark Stillman watched on in admiration for his players' work on the sodden surface.

For the second week running, Jamie Gulliford opened the scoring for Nomads inside the opening 15 minutes. In fact he was guilty of giving away a needless free-kick just before, but left-back Jon Simkins blasted it straight at him, Gulliford marched on and produced a superb shot from 25 yards past home keeper Danny Davis, who could only clutch at thin air. Davis then proceeded to keep his side in the game with some fine saves from the recalled Nath Witcombe and Gulliford, whilst Kev Page at the other end was largely un-tested, just having a few difficult corners to try and fist away. Kev Lake nearly doubled Nomads' advantage when he jinked his way past three defenders before curling a shot into the corner, but Davis reacted splendidly to palm it behind for a corner, which resulted in Witcombe having a header cleared off the line by Sam Sanders.

The home side changed from a 3-5-2 to 4-3-3 in the second half, but fell further behind in the 48th minute. A classic breakaway, starting with a Page throw out, saw Lake and Gulliford combine to give Craig Maidment a sight on goal. Maidment's effort was blocked by defender Tony Guy, Gulliford managed to lay it back to Lake who re-adjusted his body to neatly lob the ball past the stranded Davis. Rovers responded by replicating Stoke City - launching long throw-in after long throw-in towards Page's goal, and pulled a goal back on the hour mark. Marcus Humm sprinted past Kev Martin and Adam Colbourne, placed a shot which was going wide but fellow striker Nick Whyte was on hand to tap in, despite looking suspiciously offside (and confirmed by Jon Girvan after the game that he made a mistake and should have flagged). Humm headed wide when well placed before Nomads gained some breathing space by adding a third. After a handy through ball by Gareth Edwards, Witcombe managed to find space and squeeze in a low shot which squirmed out of Davis' reach, hit the inside of the post and crept in. Victory was ensured when Gulliford gathered the ball from Lake's throw in, eased his way past a posse of players and drilled it past the hesitant Davis from a few yards out. Sub Girvan then made up for his earlier error when he got on the scoresheet himself. Gulliford again was the scorn of Dilton with an assist, teeing it up for Girvan who smashed in from just inside the area, his sweet strike clipping the underside of the bar on the way, his first goal in two years. Adam Simmonds then headed over from almost on the line which would have added more salt to the Dilton wounds, but I think Nomads would have taken 5-1 before the game.