HAVING beaten the drums louder than ever last week, Woodley United attracted a crowd of 108 to Scours Lane for their first-ever FA Cup tie against Tuffley Rovers on Saturday.

Boosted by a fair sprinkling of visiting fans, that was more than double their average in the Hellenic League last season when gates varied between 20 and 62.

Now playing in the Premier Division, United should get a few more three-figure crowds.

But driving from Woodley to Tilehurst can be a pain especially on a Saturday and you can see why United were looking to switch grounds during the summer, when Bracknell, Henley and Thatcham all came under consideration.

The ambitious club desperately needs a new home in Woodley itself.

There was more FA Cup action at Scours Lane on Sunday with Highmoor Ibis playing Buckingham, but the attendance of 52 was just short of their average for last season.

  • READING Cricket Club’s 4ths were left without a Thames Valley League fixture last weekend as Windsor 4ths could not find 11 players.

It means both games this season between the two clubs were not played with Windsor failing to fulfil a fixture for the sixth time in 14 weeks.

Finchampstead 5ths also called off their trip to Sonning Lane earlier in the season.

So that is 75 points the side, now including former Hampshire and Berkshire batsman Julian Wood, did not get the opportunity to earn.

Had they got all 75 that would have doubled their current points tally and lifted them out of the Division 8a relegation zone.

However, much to Reading’s dismay, the Thames Valley League decided in June to change the rule concerning cancelled fixtures.

Instead of awarding 25 points, the management committee decided that teams in divisions 7b, 8a, 9a and 9b will not receive any points in forfeited fixtures and instead the teams’ total points would be recalculated on an average points per match basis.

But will this tempt teams involved in promotion and relegation issues to call off a fixture rather than risk the chance of losing and being overtaken in the table?