Dorset and Match

Anyone watching the BBC's Score Interactive on Saturday or any of the Garth Crooks free alternatives will not have failed to note one particular non-league scoreline frequently flashing across the base of the screen. Rushden & Diamonds travelled to face mid-table Weymouth in the Blue Square (the Conference to me and you) without a win in eight games. They returned to Northamptonshire having defeated their hosts 9-0, a score-line so severe that in the years BC (Before Crooks), Grandstand's ticking videprinter would have helpfully spelt it, less you assume it was a 0-0 draw recorded by a prticularly thick fingered typist.

As this wasn't Scottish League football which routinely features at least one implausibly large away victory a week, you would have no doubt sensed there is more to this story than a lot of goals. And you would be correct for the majority of the Weymouth side faced by Rushden and Diamonds on Saturday spent the previous weekend facing Merthyr Tydfil in Division Two of the FA's South West Counties Youth League. After ongoing unrest at the club, the majority of the club's first team players and staff had gone two months without pay and in the day's up to Saturday's game their insurance cover also ran out, leaving manager Alan Lewer no option but to field the club's youth team.

After a 9-0 home defeat you could perhaps expect support for The Terras to be at its lowest ebb. However, it appears that the events of Saturday have instead galvanised those still connected with the club, with immense pride shown in those youth team players who took the field for Weymouth. As Weymouth fan Ian D put it on the independent fans' messageboard Terras Talk; "There does not need to be humiliation in losing at home by the odd goal in nine. You can still find pure human qualities of dignity, respect and belonging, the quality of people giving their all, to the absolute maximum of their ability, with honesty and pride of the best kind. Football isn’t about who can be the most successful, it’s still about the blood that runs through your veins."

That was not the only positive to come from Saturday's defeat, as many Weymouth fans also took advantage of the football media and betting world's obsession with the top end of the game. Despite the players' walk out on Friday, there were still long odds to be had on a high-scoring away win, with only the town's own bookmakers sharp enough to refuse bets. The large scoreline is reported to have cost online bookmakers over £1million, with many Weymouth fans donating their winnings to the supporters' led Save Our Club fund. The Weymouth youth team can expect to chalk up a number of appearances in the weeks to come, whilst supporters do their best to maintain the club's presence.