Football: Crowd of the decade
Non-League notebook
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Your support makes all the difference.If ever proof was needed of the strength of non-League football below its top level (the GM Vauxhall Conference), it arrived on Tuesday evening when an astonishing crowd of 8,007 turned up to watch the Icis League leaders, Yeovil Town, take on second-placed Enfield.
It was the biggest non-League gate this decade, and has been bettered in the last 10 years only by the 9,432 who watched Lincoln City's Conference title-winning celebration against Wycombe Wanderers in May 1988.
"It was one of the best nights in Yeovil Town's history," the club's player-manager, Graham Roberts, the former Tottenham and Rangers defender, said. "It was incredible - there were people in the trees outside the ground." An estimated 1,500 people were unable to get into Huish Park - the capacity of 8,720 was not reached because Enfield's fans did not fill their area.
George Borg, the Enfield manager, said: "Unbelievable, that's the only word to describe it. It was magnificent support from Yeovil - the game was a great spectacle."
Yeovil took a 2-0 lead inside seven minutes with goals from Micky Engwell and Paul Turner - both former Enfield players - but two goals from the former Spurs forward Paul Moran levelled the score before half-time and the match ended as a 2-2 draw. Yeovil lead the league by one point, and both teams have 10 games left.
"The match was played in the right spirit and the crowd made it special," Roberts said. "We're still top - we can only lose the league now."
In the Conference, Macclesfield travel to Stevenage tomorrow. Macclesfield, the leaders, are 10 points ahead of third-placed Stevenage, but if the champions win their games in hand the gap will be just one point. Second- placed Kidderminster trail Macclesfield by one point and have played one more game.
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