The dropped points could be critical. With play-off rivals FC United of Manchester and Hednesford Town also slipping up over the weekend, the chance was there for Marine to break into the top-five with just two games remaining. They can play their part in helping the club achieve its ambition; to gain promotion to the Conference North. That is our big ambition. What we have to do is correct the wrongs of this season, and build on the strengths. We’re a young side who have come a long way this year, and this time next year we will be stronger, more mature and a little wiser I’m sure.” We have a great chance,” he says. “We have Hednesford, then FC United of Manchester, then Kendal. They are three huge games, and they could shape our season.

Senior players Rob Hopley and Mike Lea had been in temporary charge since Hoskin's departure on 10 October. Former referee Kevin Lynch once extracted a congratulations from former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson after a verbal collision during a match. He said: “I just couldn’t see myself training all week, knowing I wouldn’t be playing football at the end of it. Sullivan has worked wonders at Cammell Laird, transforming them from relegation candidates to promotion hopefuls in the space of a season. The Kirklands side won a reprieve from the Evo-Stik First Division North drop in the summer but on Tuesday night confirmed their place in the play-offs. It’s a blow to lose Ryan. He is our captain and a big influence. But his presence will still be felt around the club I’m sure, and we feel Callum can step up and take advantage of his chance.”There was the time he bowed to the crowd and started conducting the chanting in a Leyton Orient-Brentford game, a spontaneous, humorous act but one with the potential to incite a riot according to the football authorities, who stopped just short of suspending him. Most notoriously, he sent off five players in a fractious game in December 1997 between Wigan Athletic and Bristol Rovers, still a Football League record. The official also claims to hold the Football League record for most send-offs in a match, when a 21-man brawl between Norwich City and Crystal Palace resulted in Lynch sending off five players. ESPN once again has the rights to the Bundesliga in the US for this season, with the bulk of matches set to be broadcast on its ESPN Plus streaming service, though some will also be on the traditional TV channels ESPN, ESPN2 and Spanish-language ESPN Deportes. In the Free State elections, in June, Kevin stood as a candidate in the Waterford constituency, collecting 3,337 first preferences before being eliminated – after Labour Party and Fianna Fail candidates – on the fifth count, with 3,753 votes. He says, 'I'm the Rochdale pie man, did you notice a white transit van in the car park'? I said, 'yeah I did, why'? He says, 'do you know what's in it'? I said, 'I haven't got a clue'. He says 'in my van I've got 5,500 meat and potato pies, and rumour has it you've just called this f***ing game off'."

Kevin Lynch was always popular amongst fans and spectators, his work as a sports speaker and referee in the Football League has garnered him equal praise and criticism, but he will forever be fondly remembered by British football fans. Notably bowing to the crowd at a Football League match in the last fifteen years of his career Lynch was reprimanded by officials and applauded by fans when he not only joined in but conducted a stadium full of singing fans during a match between Leyton Orient and Brentford. Big name clubs Werder Bremen and Schalke 04were the somewhat surprising relegated teams last campaign, with the two clubs replaced by VfL Bochumand Spielvereinigung Greuther Fürth who are making just their second appearance in the German top flight. Sending off 5 players (a Football League record) during a game between Wigan Athletic and Bristol Rovers - 4 of them from the Bristol team! Like any other family in Dungiven, the Lynches are nationally minded, and young Kevin would have been just as aware as any other lad of his age of the basic injustices in his country, and would have equally resented the petty stop-and-search harassment which people of his age continually suffered at the hands of Brits and RUC.The midfielder arrived at the Arriva Stadium last week from Blue Square North outfit Altrincham, and made his debut in Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at former club Vauxhall Motors in the FA Trophy. Lynch says he was pleased with his side’s performance in the defeat at Vauxhall, where a late penalty from Leighton McGivern gave the Conference North side a narrow victory. During a somewhat colourful career handling some of the Game’s top players, he was probably the most controversial referee seen in the UK for many years. Lynch insisted he was delighted with his team’s performance across the weekend, but was honest enough to admit that his side’s promotion chance may have passed - for this season at least.

But if we could get three points from that game, it would be nice to go to Chester in with a shout of promotion. Kevin was taken straight to Castlereagh, and, after three days’ questioning, on Saturday, December 4th, he was charged and taken to Limavady to be remanded in custody by a special court. The string of charges included conspiracy to disarm members of the enemy forces, taking part in a punishment shooting, and the taking of ‘legally held’ shotguns. I was very disappointed on Saturday. The players have been outstanding all season long, but they let themselves down at the weekend, and at a crucial stage of the season. On December 2nd, 1976, at 5.40 a.m. Brits and RUC came to the Lynch’s home for Kevin. “We said he wasn’t going anywhere before he’d had a cup of tea”, remembers Mr. Lynch, “but they refused to let him have even a glass of water. The RUC said he’d be well looked after by then.”

KEVIN LYNCH believes young goalkeeper Callum Williams can shine in the absence of regular custodian Ryan McMahon. Though still only a small town of a few thousand, Dungiven has been growing over the past twenty years due to the influx of families like the Lynches from the outlying rural areas. It is an almost exclusively nationalist town, garrisoned by a large and belligerent force of RUC and Brits. In civil rights days, however, nationalists were barred from marching in the town centre. In another assault by prison warders, Kevin’s cellmate, Liam McCloskey, suffered a burst ear-drum during a particularly bad beating, and is now permanently hard of hearing. DETERMINATION Having held a vice like grip on the league for almost a decade, it's no surprise to find the odds on Bayern Munich once again taking the Meisterschale as being as low as 1/7 with most bookmakers.